v^ 


A  HISTORY 


OF 


THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


BY 

JOSEPH    SCHAFER,    M.L. 

HEAD   OF  THE    DEPARTMENT    OF    HISTORY,    UNIVERSITY   OF   OREGON; 

SOMETIME   FELLOW   IN    HISTORY,   UNIVERSITY   OF   WISCONSIN; 

JOINT    AUTHOR    OF    STRONG    AND    SCHAFER's    "GOVERNMENT    OF    THE 

AMERICAN    people";    AUTHOR   OF   "THE   ORIGIN   OF  THE   SYSTEM 

OF   LAND-GRANTS   IN   AID   OF   EDUCATION,"   ETC. 


WITH  MAPS  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Ltd. 
1905 

All  rights  reserved 


P^'NERAL 


0'^. 


Copyright,  1905, 

By  the  macmillan  company. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  May,  1905. 


FREDERIC   G.   YOUNG,  A.B. 

Professor  of  Economics  and  Sociology,  University  of  Oregon 

WHOSE   WORK   AS   SECRETARY   OF   THE   OREGON   HISTORICAL 

SOCIETY    FROM    THE    TIME    OF    ITS    FOUNDATION    HAS 

SIMPLIFIED   THE   TASK   OF    EVERY    INVESTIGATOR 

IN   THE  FIELD  OF  NORTHWESTERN   HISTORY 


'  n.  r> 


^     OF  THE       ^ 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


PREFACE 

This  little  book  is  an  attempt  to  relate,  in 
simple,  readable  style,  the  impressive  story  of 
civilization  building  in  the  region  once  called 
Oregon,  but  now  known  as  the  Pacific  North- 
west. The  boundaries  of  this  territory  embrace 
the  three  states  of  Oregon,  Washington,  and 
Idaho,  the  first  of  which,  as  the  oldest  member 
of  the  sisterhood,  retains  the  original  name  of 
the  whole. 

The  division  into  states  should  not  disguise 
to  us  the  fact  that  northwestern  history  is 
more  remarkable  for  its  unity  than  its  diver- 
sity. And  only  by  treating  it  as  one  rather 
than  three  distinct  movements  can  a  correct 
view  of  the  whole  be  obtained.  This  principle 
will  unquestionably  hold  good  for  all  matters 
save  the  purely  political ;  in  order  to  treat 
these  fully,  it  would  of  course  be  necessary  to 
consider  each  of  the  three  states  by  itself. 

It  has  seemed  to  me,  however,  that  after 
passing  the  intensely  interesting  period  of  the 


viii  PREFACE 

Oregon  provisional  government,  politics  should 
occupy  only  a  very  few  pages  in  so  small  a 
volume.  The  organization  and  operation  of 
new  state  governments  in  this  region  differs 
little  from  similar  activities  in  other  territory 
belonging  to  the  United  States.  But  the  pro- 
cesses by  which  the  wilderness  was  subdued, 
homes  multiplied,  cities  built,  commerce  ex- 
tended to  all  parts  of  the  world,  and  a  great 
civilization  developed  in  this  remote  and  once 
inaccessible  portion  of  our  continent,  —  these 
are  not  mere  replications  of  what  had  previ- 
ously taken  place  elsewhere.  The  unfolding 
of  these  processes,  under  the  special  physical 
conditions  prevailing  here,  gives  to  the  history 
of  the  region  a  charm  belonging  to  itself  alone. 
I  have,  therefore,  adopted  the  plan  of  treating 
the  early  period  with  considerable  fullness,  de- 
voting to  it  fourteen  chapters,  and  making  the 
remaining  five  chapters  practically  a  sketch  of 
progress  in  the  Pacific  North w^est  from  1849 
to  the  present  time. 

In  preparing  the  book,  I  have  naturally 
gained  much  assistance  from  the  works  of 
earlier  writers  in  the  same  field,  especially 
from   those  volumes   of   the    H.    H.   Bancroft 


PREFACE  ix 

series  which  relate  especially  to  this  region. 
But  it  has  been  my  rule  not  to  rely  upon  sec- 
ondary authorities,  unless  compelled  to,  except 
in  matters  of  secondary  importance.  For  the 
most  part  it  has  been  possible,  with  a  large 
expenditure  of  time  and  effort  and  through  the 
generosity  of  many  kind  friends,  to  procure 
the  actual  sources.  Moreover,  a  mass  of  docu- 
ments, fortunately  discovered  in  the  course  of 
these  researches,  will  now  be  used  for  the  first 
time  in  this  volume,  and  more  fully  in  my 
forthcoming  "  History  of  the  Pacific  Slope  and 
Alaska." 

Much  as  I  would  like  to  mention  here  the 
names  of  all  who  gave  any  assistance  during 
the  performance  of  this  task,  the  limits  of  space 
make  it  impracticable  to  do  so.  In  some  cases 
the  service  was  necessarily  slight,  but  uniformly 
rendered  with  heartiness  and  good  will ;  in 
others  it  was  of  considerable  moment,  and  in 
a  few  instances  absolutely  essential  to  the  suc- 
cess of  the  work. 

For  the  use  of  indispensable  sources  I  am 
under  special  obligations  to  Professor  F.  G. 
Young,  secretary  of  the  Oregon  Historical 
Society,  and    to    Mr.   George    H.   Himes,  the 


X  PREFACE 

assistant  secretary ;  to  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites, 
LL.D.,  superintendent  of  the  Wisconsin  His- 
torical Library,  and  Mr.  Isaac  S.  Bradley,  the 
librarian ;  also  to  Hon.  C.  B.  Bagley  of  Seattle, 
and  Hon.  F.  V.  Holman  of  Portland.  Some 
things  of  considerable  importance  were  secured 
through  the  courtesy  of  those  in  charge  of  the 
Missouri  Historical  Society,  St.  Louis;  the 
State  Historical  Society  of  Missouri,  Colum- 
bia ;  the  Mercantile  Library,  St.  Louis ;  the 
Kansas  Historical  Society,  Topeka;  and  the 
California  State  Library,  Sacramento. 

To  the  Hon.  H.  W.  Scott,  editor  of  the  Port- 
land Oregonian,  I  am  indebted  for  suggestions 
which  proved  very  helpful  in  determining  the 
general  plan  and  scope  of  the  work ;  and  to 
Dr.  J.  R.  Wilson,  principal  of  the  Portland 
Academy,  for  a  critical  examination  of  the 
matter  and  form  of  the  book.  Several  of  my 
colleagues  at  the  University,  Miss  Camilla 
Leach,  Professor  F.  S.  Dunn,  and  Professor 
H.  D.  Sheldon,  read  portions  of  the  manu- 
script and  offered  valuable  suggestions.  Mrs. 
Florence  Baker  Hays  of  Boise,  Idaho,  col- 
lected for  me  a  portion  of  the  matter  appearing 
in  the  Appendix.     Nearly  all  of  the  proofs  have 


PREFACE  XI 

passed  through  the  hands  of  Rev.  E.  Clarence 
Oakley,  of  Eugene.  My  wife,  Lily  Abbott 
Schafer,  has  given  me  assistance  and  encour- 
agement at  every  stage  of  the  work. 

It  is  pleasing  to  reflect  that  by  a  fortunate 
chance  this  little  volume  makes  its  appearance 
very  near  the  time  (June  i,  1905)  set  for  the 
opening  of  the  World's  Fair  at  Portland,  Ore- 
gon. Since  the  exposition  was  planned  to 
commemorate  the  achievement  of  Lewis  and 
Clark,  its  intimate  relation  to  the  subject  of 
this  history  is  apparent.  If  the  book  serves 
to  contribute,  even  slightly,  to  that  powerful 
historical  impulse  which  the  Lewis  and  Clark 
Exposition  illustrates,  and  especially  if  it  shall 
promote  a  more  intelligent  interest  in  north- 
western history  among  the  youth  of  this  region, 
for  whom  it  is  primarily  intended,  I  shall  feel 
amply  repaid  for  the  labor  bestowed  upon  it. 


JOSEPH    SCHAFER. 


University  of  Oregon, 
Eugene,  March  20,  1905. 


CONTENTS 


Preface vii 


CHAPTER 

^    ^I.     Early  Explorers  of  the  Pacific  Coast 
. — ^1.     The  Northwest  Coast  and  Alaska 
Nootka  Sound  and  the  Columbia 


111. 
IV. 

-^Vl. 


Vll. 


Early  Explorations  Westward 
Origin  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition 
Opening  a  Highway  to  the  Pacific 
A  Race  for  the  Columbia  River  Fur  Trade 
VIII.     The  Hudson's  Bay  Company 
IX.     The  Oregon  Question  . 
X.     Pioneers  of  the  Pioneers 
-XL     The  Colonizing  Movement  . 
XIL     The  Great  Migration    . 

XI II.  The  First  American  Government 

XIV.  The  Opening  of  a  New  Era 
XV.     The  Northwest  and  California 

XVI.     Progress  and  Politics,  1 849-1 859 
XVII.     The  Inland  Empire 
XVlll.     The  Age  of  Railways  . 


on  the  Pacific 


XIX.     The  Pacific  Northwest  of  To-day 

Appendix 

Index        ..... 


I 

15 

28 

^S  7 

69 

IIS 

124 
137 
159 
177 
196 
213 
229 
239 
253 
271 
288 

29s 
301 


(The  different  Scales  u->etl 


Zrf^gO'Pago  Harbor 

►AN  ISLAaIdS  1899 

ritan  Posi-ssloils)    West  from  0 


loted  with  particular  care.) 


A    HISTORY   OF 
THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


^rl^^ 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


lap  of  United  States         .... 

he  Mission  of  San  Carlos,  near  Monterey 

ereoboo,  King  of  Owyhee,  bringing  Presents 

Cook  .... 
lootka  Harbor,  1788 

he  Sea-otter     . 

he  Mouth  of  the  Columbia 
lap  of  North  America,  1788 

ho  mas  Jefferson 

[erivvether  Lewis 

v'illiam  Clark    . 

ireat  Falls  of  the  Missouri 

lultonomah  Falls 

'he  Rocky  Mountains 

'he  Dalles 

'he  Gorge  of  the  Columbia 

llark's  Map  of  the  Transcontinental  Route 

\.storia       . 

'ort  Okanogan  . 

ort  Walla  Walla       . 
)r.  John  McLoughlin,  1824 
lap  of  the  Columbia 
'ort  Vancouver 
)lcl  Mission  House,  Oregon 

simakane  Mission     . 

weetwater  Gap,  on  the  Oregon  Trail 

XV 


Frontispiece 


to  Captain 


PAGE 

8 


24 
30 
35 
39 
47 
59 
70 

71 
79 
81 

83 
86 

87 

91 
103 
III 
116 
117 
118 
120 
150 

157 
181 


XVI 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


A  Buffalo  Hunt  .... 

The  Old  Trail  along  the  Sweetwater  , 

Mt.  Hood 

Governor  George  Abernethy 
Mount  Rainier  from  the  South  . 
General  Joseph  Lane 
Sutter's  Fort  in  1849  •         •         •         • 
General  Isaac  Ingalls  Stevens    . 
Coeur  d'Alene,  1853    .... 
Pack  Train  on  Mountain  Trail   . 
Fort  Benton,  1853      .... 
View  of  Portland        .... 
Physiographic  Map  of  the  United  States 

Henry  Villard 

James  WilHs  Nesmith 

Falls  of  the  Spokane 

View  of  Seattle  .... 


PAGE 
188 

194 
197 

201 
228 
231 
252 
256 
258 
261 
263 
267 
276 
277 
284 
28s 


A    HISTORY   OF 
THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


A  HISTORY   OF    THE    PACIFIC 
NORTHWEST 

CHAPTER   I 

EARLY  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST 


M 


It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  Isthmus  of  Panama  Scope  of 
to  the  icy  capes  above  Bering's  Strait ;  and  the  ^^^p^^"^ 
explorations  which  unveiled  that  long  coast  line 
form  a  thriUing  chapter  in  the  history  of  our 
continent.  The  story  opens  on  the  25  th  of 
September,  151  v  when  Balboa,  surrounded  by 
sixty  SpaloTsh  companions,  stood  on  a  peak  of 
the  Darien  Mountains  and  gazed,  with  the  rap- 
ture of  a  discoverer,  upon  the  waters  of  the 
South  Sea.  It  closes  two  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  years  later,  when  Captain  Cook  rounded 
"  the  Northwestern  point  of  all  America,"  and 
named  it  Cape  Prince  of  Wales.  The  earlier 
portion  of  these  explorations,  covering  nearly 
one  hundred  years,  will  be  treated  in  the  pres- 
ent chapter. 

Balboa,  on  first  beholding  the  Pacific,  made  importance 
a  formal  declaration  that  all  its  coasts  belonged,  discovery  ^ 
bj   right  of  discovery,  to   the   king  of   Spain. 
Four  days  later  he  reached   tl|fe  shore   at  the 
G)ilf  of  San   Miguel,  and    repeated    the  cere- 


2       A   HISTORY   OF  THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

mony  of  taking  possession,  this  time  marching 
into  the  surf  at  the  head  of  his  party.  While 
such  formalities  usually  have  little  effect  upon 
the  course  of  history,  the  discovery  itself  was 
a  great  triumph  for  the  Spanish  government. 
Since  the  time  (5f  Columbus,  their  navigators 
had  been  searching  among  the  West  Indies, 
and  along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  South  and 
Central  America,  in  the  blind  hope  of  finding 
an  open  passage  to  the  Orient.  They  failed 
because,  as  it  was  supposed,  nature  had  sown 
islands  so  thickly  in  this  part  of  the  ocean 
that  it  was  very  difficult  for  ships  to  pick  their 
way  among  them.  The  numerous  failures  had 
discouraged  many;  but  when  Balboa  reached 
the  open  sea  by  marching  overland  a  few  miles 
from  the  Darien  coast,  no  one  any  longer 
doubted  that  a  convenient  westward  route 
existed.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  this 
would  be  found  to  the  north  of  the  Isthmus. 
Magellan  soon  afterward  proved  that  there 
was  a  way  around  South  America,  but  it  was 
very  difficult,  and  far  out  of  the  direct  course 
from  Europe  to  eastern  Asia.  The  necessity 
still  remained,  therefore,  to  find  a  "  strait,"  and 
the  discovery  of  the  Pacific  stimulated  the 
search  in  an  extraordinary  manner. 
The  search  During  the  entire  history  of  navigation  no 
mere  idea  or  hope  has  been  followed  out  w  th 
greater    persistence.      The    belief    in    a   strait 


fur  a  strait 


EARLY   EXPLORERS   OF   THE    PACIFIC    COAST       3 

became  almost  universal  among  commercial 
peoples,  and  to  find  it  was  the  ambition  of 
seafarers  throughout  the  world.     It  was  this,  in  v 

part,  which  brought  out  so  quickly  the  geog- 
raphy of  the  Atlantic  coast  of  North  America, 
and  induced  so  many  explorers  to  enter  the 
water  courses  leading  to  the  interior  of  the 
continent.  Each  newly  discovered  estuary, 
every  deep  indentation  of  the  coast,  was  con- 
fidently expected  to  afford  the  coveted  high- 
way ;  until,  as  we  shall  see,  after  a  long  series 
oj  failures  by  Spaniards  and  others  in  the  south,  ^ 
the  British  mariners  turned  to  seek  a  Northwest 
Passage  in  the  region  of  Hudson  Bay. 

The  people  most  interested  in  the  search  for  Reasons  for 
a  strait  during  the  sixteenth  century  were  the  thfpacmc 
Spaniards.  Portugal  had  been  the  great  rival  coast 
of  Spain  in  the  effort  to  find  a  water  route  to 
the  Indies,  and  her  famous  navigator,  Vasco  da 
Gama,  had  opened  the  way  around  Africa  while 
Columbus  and  his  followers  were  vainly  trying 
to  reach  Asia  by  sailing  west.  The  Portuguese 
had  a  monopoly  of  this  route,  and  were  growing 
rich  from  the  profits  of  the  spice  trade  with  the 
Moluccas.  In  order  to  share  in  this  commerce 
it  was  necessary  for  the  Spaniards  to  complete 
the  western  highway  to  the  Orient  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  indispensable  strait.  .  As  a  foot- 
ing had  been  obtained  on  the  Pacific  coast  of 
Central  America  it  was  determined  to  follow 


A   HISTORY    OF    THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


up  the  search  from  that  as  well  as  from  the 
Atlantic  side. 

The  first  ships  to  sail  upon  the  South  Sea 
were  launched  by  Balboa  himself  in  the  year 
1 5 1 7.  They  were  built  on  the  Panama  coast, 
some  of  the  timbers  for  their  construction  hav- 
ing been  carried  across  the  mountains  on  the 
backs  of  Indian  slaves.  The  hundreds  of  na- 
tives who  perished  under  the  lash  during  this 
terrible  march  constituted  the  first  bloody  sac- 
rifice to  the  Spirit  of  the  Western  Sea.  Aside 
from  building  the  vessels  very  little  was  achieved 
by  Balboa.  He  coasted  along  the  shore  for  some 
distance,  gathered  gold  and  pearls  from  the 
tribes  in  those  regions,  and  returned  to  the 
colony  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mountains 
where  he  was  put  to  death  by  political  enemies. 
About  six  years  later,  however,  two  other  Span- 
iards explored  northwestward  from  Panama  as 
far  as  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca,  discovering  Lake 
Nicaragua.  This,  it  was  hoped,  with  the 
stream  flowing  from  it  to  the  Atlantic,  and  a 
very  short  canal  through  the  level  ground  on 
the  west,  might  give  them  a  passage  from  ocean 
to  ocean.  Thus  early  (1523)  was  suggested  the 
idea  of  an  interoceanic  canal. 

By  this  time  the  Spaniards  were  ni  possessior 
of  the  rich  valley  of  Mexico,  where  Cortez  ha(l^ 
recently  overthrown  the  power  of  the  Aztec 
confederacy.     It  was  the  most  important  terri 


EARLY  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST   5 

tory  of  the  New  World  yet  brought  under  sub- 
jection by  Europeans.  The  land  was  rich,  its 
resources  were  varied,  and  the  position  it,|;)ccu- 
pied  between  the  two  seas  was  a  commanding 
one.  The  colony  planted  in  Mexico  became 
a  center  for  new  explorations,  carried  on  both 
north  and  south,  by  land  and  by  sea. 

Cortez,  ever  on  the  lookout  for  opportunities  Cortez 
of  further  conquest,  sent  his  military  expedi-  explorer^" 
tions  toward  the  west,  and  soon  learned  of  a 
great  ocean  which  he  judged  to  be  the  same  as 
Balboa's  South  Sea.  The  news  made  a  deep 
impression  upon  his  imagination.  Military  suc- 
cesses had  already  brought  him  riches,  and  a 
fame  which  reached  to  all  countries  of  the  civil- 
ized world ;  but  Cortez  saw  that  here  was  the 
gateway  to  greater  wealth  and  a  more  enduring 
renown.  By  exploring  the  Pacific  he  expected 
to  find  many  islands  abounding  in  gold  and 
other  riches.  He  hoped,  also,  to  reach  the 
Moluccas,  and  above  all,  he  was  anxious  to  find 
the  strait  so  ardently  desired  by  the  king  of 
Spain.  He  therefore  established  a  naval  sta- 
tion on  the  west  coast  of  Mexico  and  soon 
began  sending  expeditions  toward  the  north. 
Some  of  his  ships  were  lost,  and  large  sums 
of  money  spent,  but  no  very  important  results 
were  obtained  until  1539.^     In  that  year  Cortez 

1^  The  southern  end  of  the  California  Peninsula  was  discov- 
ered in  1534.  It  was  supposed  to  be  an  island.  The  attempt  to 
pl?'nt  a  colony  there  failed. 


6       A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

sent  out  Ulloa,  with  three  ships,  to  trace  the 
Mexican  coast  northward.  One  vessel  was 
soon  lost.  With  the  two  remaining  the  mari- 
ner held  his  course  till  he  approached  the  head 
of  the  Gulf  of  California.  Tacking  about  he 
now  passed  along  the  shore  of  the  peninsula 
to  the  cape  which  forms  its  southern  extremity. 
Rounding  this  dangerous  headland  he  beat  up 
the  outer  coast  as  far  as  Cedros  Island  (latitude 
2B°).  From  this  expedition  Ulloa  and  his  flag- 
ship never  returned,  although  the  surviving 
vessel  reached  Mexico  in  the  following  year. 
Cortez  meantime  returned  to  Spain  (1540)  and 
■  died  there  a  few  years  later  (1547). 
Marion's  Rcadcrs  of  early  American  history  are  famil- 

voyage  -^^^  ^j^j^  ^j^^  romantic  story  of  Coronado :  how 
•he  was  dispatched  from  Mexico,  in  1540,  in 
search  of  the  mythical  golden  cities,  or  Cities 
of  Cibola,  of  which  rumors  had  recently  been 
brought  from  the  north.  At  this  time  the 
viceroy  of  Mexico  was  Cortez 's  rival,  Mendoza; 
and  he,  in  order  to  increase  the  chances  of 
Coronado's  success,  sent  a  fleet  under  Alar9on 
to  support  the  land  expedition.  Alar^on  reached 
the  head  of  the  Gulf,  as  Ulloa  had  done  before 
him,  and,  leaving  his  ships  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Colorado  River,  ascended  the  stream  in 
small  boats  as  far  as  its  junction  with  the  Gi'a. 
This  proved  that  the  land  stretching  toward 
the   southwest   was.  a   peninsula   and   not    in 


EARLY  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST   / 

island.  The  name  Cali/onna,  now  known  to 
have  been  derived  from  a  sixteenth-century 
Spanish  novel,  was  first  applied  to  the  country 
about  this  time.  In  its  original  use  it  signifies 
a  fabulous  island,  situated  not  far  "from  the 
terrestrial  paradise,"  and  inhabited  by  a  gigantic 
race  of  women. 

While  the  outlines  of  the  California  Gulf  and  Voyage  of 
Peninsula  had  been  made  known,  the  explora-  jreieio^^" 
tions  thus  far  had  revealed  no  part  of  the  pres- 
ent western  coast  of  the  United  States.  The 
time  was  come  for  another  forward  movement^ 
destined  to  carry  the  Spaniards  many  leagues 
further  toward  the  Arctic  Sea.  Viceroy  Men- 
doza  had  recently  become  much  interested  in 
exploration,  and  was  not  to  be  outdone  by 
Cortez,  the  patron  of  Ulloa.  In  1542  he  com- 
missioned Cabrillo  to  explore  the  coast  north- 
ward along  the  peninsula.  This  navigator 
passed  Cedros  Island,  and  on  the  28th  of  Sep- 
tember anchored  in  a  good  harbor  which  re- 
ceived from  him  the  name  of  San  Miguel,  but 
was  later  called  San  Diego.  So  far  as  we  know 
this  was  the  first  visit  of  white  men  to  the 
coast  of  Upper  California.  Cabrillo  had  two 
ships  and  supplies  for  a  long  cruise.  After 
surveying  the  new-found  harbor,  he  proceeded 
leisurely  northward,  anchoring  at  a  number  of 
points.  He  showed  much  interest  in  the  land- 
scapes presented  by  these  strange  coasts,  and 


8       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

noted  the  ever  changing  forms  of  the  moun- 
tains, plains,  and  valleys.  The  natives,  too, 
received  a  share  of  Cabrillo's  attention,  and  he 
describes  the  habitations,  dress,  food,  and  canoes 
of  those  that  came  most  directly  under  his  eye. 
After  examining  the  coast  as  far  as  Monterey, 


^M 

■ 

l^A          *t  f  *■'.    I >.   i 

mm'-- 

PPHI^^  ^ 

■ 

The  Mission  of  San  Carlos,  near  Monterey. 


and  perhaps  somewhat  farther,  Cabrillo  was 
driven  southward  to  San  Miguel  Island,  where 
he  died,  January  3,  1543.  The  chief  command 
now  fell  to  the  pilot,  Ferelo,  who,  like  Cabrillo, 
was  an  able  navigator,  ambitious  to  win  fame 
for  himself  and  glory  for  his  sovereign.  Carry- 
ing out  the  dying  command  of  his  superio, 
Ferelo  sailed  northward.  On  this  cruise  thj 
vessels  passed  up  the  coast  beyond  Monterey. 


i:arly  explorers  of  the  pacific  coast     9 

possibly  to  the  parallel  of  42°,  though  probably 
not  quite  so  far.  Thus  the  first  thirty  years  of 
Spanish  exploration  along  the  Pacific  gave  to 
the  world  a  map  of  that  coast  from  Panama  to 
near  the  northern  boundary  of  California. 

Spain  was  now  by  far  the  most  powerful  state  Spain  domi- 
of  Europe,  and  her  sovereign,  Charles  the  Fifth,  pac^^c^c^o^st 
the  greatest  king  in  Christendom.  It  was  not 
strange,  therefore,  that  she  should  attempt  to 
monopolize  the  New  World,  or  that  other 
nations,  like  France  and  England,  should  be 
slow  to  lay  claim  to  those  regions.  Spaniards 
were  exploring  the  Atlantic  coast,  as  well  as  the 
interior  of  North  America ;  under  Magellan 
they  had  already  rounded  the  southern  con- 
tinent, and  discovered  a  passage  —  although  a 
dangerous  one  —  to  the  Pacific ;  they  were 
reaping  a  golden  harvest  from  the  mines  of 
Peru  and  Mexico.^  The  Pacific  Ocean,  west 
of  the  two  Americas,  was  practically  a  Spanish 
sea.  No  other  power  seemed  likely  to  disturb 
these  waters,  unless  some  easier  passage  from 
the  Atlantic  should  be  found  than  the  treacher- 
ous Straits  of  Magellan.  Men  felt  as  secure  on 
that  long  coast  line,  stretching  through  more 

^  Soon  after  this  the  Spaniards  also  began  a  regular  trade  with 
the  Orient  by  way  of  Mexico  and  the  Philippine  Islands.  Magel- 
lan bad  discovered  the  Philippines  on  his  famous  voyage  around 
the  world,  and  lost  his  life  there.  About  1564  Spain  began  to 
colonize  the  islands,  and  then  a  trade  sprang  up  which  became 
very;  important. 


10       A    HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

than  a  hundred  degrees  of  latitude,  as  they  did 

in  the  interior  of  Spain  itself. 
Origin  of  Inthis  agreeable  delusion  Spanish  colonists 

^^^^f.^,        and  merchants  alono-  the  Pacific  whiled  away 

expedition  «^  -^ 

the  peaceful  years  till  a  new  generation  came 
upon  the  stage  of  history.  Then  suddenly  an 
event  occurred  which  startled  them  from  their 
repose.  This  was  the  buccaneering  voyage  of 
Sir  Francis  Drake,  which  took  place  in  the 
years  1577  to  1580.  Drake  was  one  of  those 
daring  English  seamen  who  made  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth  as  famous  for  its  maritime  en- 
terprise as  it  became  for  its  literature  through 
such  men  as  Shakespeare  and  Spenser.  He 
sailed  from  Plymouth  with  five  ships  Decem- 
ber 13,  1577,  having  first  secured  Elizabeth's 
consent  to  carry  on  private  war  against  the 
hated  Spaniards  in  the  New  World.  The  voy- 
age is  described  in  a  quaint,  interesting  man- 
ner, by  the  chaplain  of  the  expedition,  Francis 
Fletcher,  whose  book  has  been  published  under 
the  title,  "  The  World  Encompassed  by  Sir 
Francis  Drake."  Fletcher  naturally  makes  a 
hero  of  the  Captain,  describing  him  as  a  brilliant 
leader  in  battle,  a  stern  but  righteous  judge,  and 
a  commander  whose  will  few  dared  to  disobey. 
At  times  he  could  be  the  jovial  companion  of 
sailors  and  officers,  drinking  and  carousing 
with  as  little  conscience  as  the  rest.  But 
when    danger    threatened,    or    death    seemed 


EARLY  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST   1 1 

imminent,  he  could  also  lead  them  in  their 
prayers,  and  preach  the  hopeful  doctrines  of 
the  Christian  church. 

Nearly  a  year  passed,  after  leaving  England,  His  voyage 
before  the  ships  emerged  from  the  Straits  of  padfc^coast 
Magellan ;  and  as  they  did  so  a  furious  storm 
drove  them  hundreds  of  leagues  into  unknown 
southern  waters,  and  made  it  impossible  for  them 
to  keep  together.  The  remainder  of  the  long 
cruise  was  made  by  Drake  in  the  single  ship 
Golden  Hind,  the  other  vessels  all  forsaking 
him.  For  many  months  he  plowed  the  waters 
along  the  coasts  of  South  and  Central  America, 
committing  depredations  which  would  be  in- 
credible except  for  the  defenseless  condition  of 
the  Spaniards.  Not  satisfied  with  attacking 
ships  on  the  high  seas,  and  forcing  them  to 
surrender,  he  ran  into  the  harbors,  where  ves- 
sels of  all  descriptions  were  collected,  and  where 
they  were  supposed  to  be  perfectly  safe  from 
harm.  Sometimes  he  set  fire  to  ships  and  fled ; 
again  he  would  capture  rich  cargoes,  and  get 
safely  away  before  the  Spaniards  could  offer 
the  least  interference.  But  the  larger  part  of 
his  booty  was  obtained  by  the  capture  of  Span- 
ish "  treasure  ships."  One  of  these  yielded 
him  enormous  wealth  in  bar  gold,  silver,  gems, 
and  plate.  The  vessel  was  called  the  Caca- 
fuego  or  Spit-fire :  after  her  capture  a  Spanish 
wag  suggested   that  she  be   rechristened    and 


12       A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

given  the  more  appropriate  name  Caca-plata, 
Spit-silver.  In  these  exploits  the  English  cap- 
tain and  his  men  showed  all  the  bravery  and 
daring  for  which  the  corsairs  of  the  time  were 
noted ;  they  also  showed  some  of  the  less  ami- 
able qualities  belonging  to  men  of  their  class 
the  w^orld  over. 
New  Albion  One  of  the  objects  of  Drake's  expedition  was 
to  find  the  passage  leading  from  the  Pacific  to 
the  Atlantic.  Accordingly,  after  his  ship  was 
gorged  with  plunder,  he  made  sail  to  the  north, 
running  up  to  the  parallel  of  42°,  or  perhaps 
43°.  By  this  time,  we  are  informed,  the  men 
began  to  suffer  severely  from  the  cold,  although 
it  was  midsummer,  and  therefore,  on  the  1 7th 
of  June  (1579),  Drake  ran  into  a  very  good 
harbor  in  latitude  38°  30^.  It  is  supposed  that 
this  was  the  opening  just  above  San  Francisco 
which  modern  geographers  call  Drake's  Bay.^ 
In  the  California  harbor,  Drake  repaired  his 
vessel  as  well  as  he  could  and  prepared  for  the 
later  cruise.  He  made  some  explorations  to- 
ward the  interior,  and  gained  great  influence 
over  the  natives  about  the  bay,  who  begged 
him  to  remain  in  the  country.  They  agreed, 
as  the  narrator  declares,  to  accept  the  Engli  ' 

of 

^  There  is  no  probability  that  the  Englishman  saw  the  g. 
harbor    of    northern    California,   although    some    writers    I'j 
strangely  sought  to  derive  its  saintly  name  from  this  terr 
sea  rover. 


EARLY  EXPLORERS  OF  THE  PACIFIC  COAST       13 

queen  as  their  sovereign.  Drake  went  through 
the  formality  of  taking  possession  of  the  land  in 
her  name,  and  called  the  region  "  New  Albion," 
partly  on  account  of  the  white  banks  and  cliffs 
along  the  shore,  partly  to  fix  upon  it  a  name 
sometimes  appHed  to  the  Island  Kingdom 
across  the  seas.  We  know  very  well  that  al- 
most, if  not  quite,  the  entire  coast  line  seen  by 
Drake  had  been  skirted  by  Spanish  navigators 
from  Mexico  a  generation  earlier ;  yet  he  pre- 
tended to  believe  that  the  Spaniards  had  never 
"had  any  dealing,  or  so  much  as  set  foot  in 
this  country,  the  utmost  of  their  discoveries 
reaching  only  to  many  degrees  southward  of 
this  place." 

Instead  of  continuing  the  search  for  a  pas-  The  return 
sage  into  the  Atlantic,  the  Englishman  decided  ^^  ^"^'^''^ 
it  would  be  wiser  to  carry  his  cargo  into  safe 
seas  by  the  least  dangerous  route.  He  knew 
the  Spaniards  in  the  south  would  be  guarding 
the  coast,  as  well  as  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 
Drake  therefore  struck  boldly  across  the  Pacific, 
rounded  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  accom- 
plished the  second  circumnavigation  of  the 
globe.     His  ship  reentered  Plymouth  harbor  on 

.,  the  26th  of  Septem.ber,  "in  the  just  and  ordi- 
^^;7  reckoning  of  those  that  stayed  at  home." 

^      \   seafarers   had    of    course   gained    a   day. 

^^-  ^^-n  Elizabeth  was  so  well  pleased  with  the 
"S<^  -^oits  of  her  valiant  captain  that  she  visited 


expedition 


14       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Drake's  ship,  examined  the  treasures  on  board, 
and    before  leaving  the  deck  conferred   upon 
him  the  honor  of  knighthood. 
Vizcaino's  Drake's  voyage  produced  great  consternation 

among  the  Spanish  colonists,  and  many  plans 
were  made  to  prevent  others  from  committing 
similar  outrages.  One  scheme  was  to  explore 
the  coast  of  Upper  California,  and  establish 
forts  at  one  or  two  good  harbors.  This  was  im- 
portant for  commercial  reasons,  also,  as  the  ships 
trading  to  the  Philippines,  on  their  return  to 
Mexico  along  the  California  coast,  needed  some 
place  to  refit.  Sebastian  Vizcaino,  a  Spanish 
navigator,  made  the  necessary  explorations  in 
1 602-1 603.  He  advised  the  government  to 
fortify  both  Monterey  and  San  Diego  harbors, 
but  nothing  was  done  for  many  years.  The 
expedition  of  Vizcaino  marks  the  end  of  the 
early  period  of  exploring  activity  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  seventeenth  century,  and  the  first 
half  of  the  eighteenth,  saw  no  discoveries. 
The  "  Manila  ships,"  as  the  vessels  trading  to 
the  Philippines  were  called,  were  almost  the 
only  Spanish  craft  to  approach  the  coast  of 
Upper  California  during  that  long  interval. 
The  tribes  and  peoples  seen  by  Cabrillo,  Drake, 
and  Vizcaino,  continued  to  war  among  them- 
selves, in  their  barbarous  way,  unchecked  by 
the  presence  of  a  superior  race.  California 
remained  a  wilderness. 


CHAPTER    II 

THE    NORTHWEST    COAST    AND    ALASKA 

The  one  hundred  and  sixty  years  following  The  decline 
the  voyage  of  Vizcaino  witnessed  great  changes  ^^  ^p^^" 
in  the  relative  power  of  Spain.     Her  decline 
began  toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
and  in   1588  the  English  fleet,  officered  by  su- 
perb seamen  like  Howard  and  Drake,  destroyed 

the  Spanish  Armada,  which  had  threatened  the 
ruin  of  England.  From  this  time  the  other  na- 
tions of  Europe  no  longer  feared  Spain,  and  three 
of  them, —  England,  France,  and  Holland, — 
began  to  colonize  the  New  World.  The  found- 
ing of  Jamestown  in  1607,  Quebec  one  year 
later,  and  the  trading  post  at  Manhattan  Island 
in  161 3,  gave  each  of  these  states  a  foothold 
on  the  Atlantic  coast,  all  of  which  had  been 
claimed  by  Spain  under  the  name  of  Florida. 
In  the  course  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  England  was  enabled,  largely  through 
the  growth  of  her  navy,  to  outstrip  all  of  the 
other  colonizing  powers,  and  to  gain  at  last 
the  entire  eastern  half  of  North  America.  Hol- 
land was  forced  to  give  up  her  colony  in  1664; 
and  France  gave  up  Canada,  together  with  the 

IS 


l6       '\   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


H 


er  unsa 


fe 


condition  on 
the  Pacific 
coast 


The  remedy; 

northern 

expansion 


country  between  the  Allegbanies  and  the  Mis- 
sissippi, in  1763.  Spain  was  pushed  down  into 
the  peninsula  of  Florida,  remaining  there  till 
1763,  when  she  was  compelled,  for  a  time,  to 
retire  beyond  the  Mississippi/ 

These  changes  seriously  affected  the  position 
of  Spain  on  the  Pacific  coast.  Her  people 
feared  that  Great  Britain  would  attack  them 
on  that  side  as  they  had  already  successfully 
done  on  the  Atlantic.  British  navio-ators  were 
at  this  time  earnestly  trying  to  discover  the 
Northwest  Passage  from  Hudson  Bay  to  the 
Pacific.  Should  they  be  so  fortunate  as  to 
find  it,  and  gain  a  foothold  on  the  west  coast, 
the  days  of  Spanish  supremacy  would  be  num- 
bered.* This  was  one  of  the  alarming  condi- 
tions which  roused  the  Spaniards  from  their 
sleep  of  a  hundred  and  sixty  years.  Another 
danger  threatened  from  the  north,  where  the 
Russians  had  already  made  various  discoveries, 
including  Bering's  Strait  and  some  points  on 
the  coast  of  Alaska.  There  was  nothinor  to 
prevent  these  hardy  northerners  from  pushing 
down  the  coast  line  at  their  own  good  pleasure. 

But  the  people  of  Mexico,  supported  b)'  the 
Spanish  government,  now  showed  themselves 
capable  of  making  extraordinary  exertion:?  for 
the  safety  of  the  state.  They  proposed  a  great 
plan   of   northern    expansion,    which    incl  ided 

1  During  a  brief  period,  1 763-1 783,  England  controlled  Fh  .Ida. 


THE   NORTHWEST  COAST   AND  ALASKA       i/ 

three  points.  First,  they  were  to  plant  colo- 
nies and  build  forts  at  the  harbors  of  San 
Diego  and  Monterey,  as  Vizcaino  had  recom- 
mended in  1603.  Next,  the  entire  region  of 
Upper  California  was  to  be  brought  under 
Spanish  rule.  Lastly,  they  were  to  undertake 
further  explorations  by  sea  from  Monterey  to 
the  vicinity  of  the  Russian  settlements  on  the 
North  Pacific.  In  connection  with  the  plan 
of  conquest  it  was  decided  to  establish  a 
number  of  missions,  such  as  already  existed 
•throughout  the  California  Peninsula,  for  the 
purpose  of  Christianizing  the  northern  Indians. 
Father  Junipero  Serra,  a  devout  Franciscan  1 
friar,  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  missionary! 
arrangements. 

Early  in   1769,  two  ships  were   sent  north-  planting  the 
ward  to  the  harbor  of  San   Dieeo,  and  at  the  California 

*-*  _  missions  and 

same  time  two  companies  of  colonists,  each  presidios  <- 
with  a  herd  of  cattle,  marched  overland  from 
the  northern  missions  of.  the  peninsula.  The 
total  number  of  persons  setting  out  by  land  and 
sea  was  two  hundred  and  nineteen;  but  when 
the  expeditions  reached  their  destination  it  was 
found  that  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  , 
remained.  This  heroic  little  band  hoped  to 
conquer  the  vast  stretches  of  wilderness  com- 
prised within  the  present  boundaries  of  Cali- 
fornia. On  the  1 6th  of  July  (1769)  they  founded 
the  first  of  the  series  of  missions  at  San  Diego, 


l8       A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Juan  Perez 
and  the 
discovery  of 
the  North- 
west Coast 


where  a  fort,  or  presidio,  was  also  established. 
Monterey  was  occupied  in  the  following  year, 
the  harbor  fortified,  and  the  mission  of  San 
Carlos  begun.  This  place  became  the  capital 
of  Upper  California.  Year  by  year  other  mis- 
sions were  established,  that  of  San  Francisco, 
the  sixth  in  number,  dating  from  October,  1776. 
As  soon  as  the  work  of  colonization  was  well 
under  way  the  leaders  turned  their  attention  to 
the  explorations,  which  were  a  part  of  the  great 
plan  for  extending  the  influence  of  Spain  to- 
ward the  north.  The  first  expedition  was  in- 
trusted to  Juan  Perez,  a  naval  officer  of  first 
rank,  who  had  been  in  charge  of  the  California 
fleet.  His  ship  was  the  Santiago,  one  of  the 
few  vessels  whose  names  deserve  to  be  re- 
corded in  a  history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest. 
When  all  was  in  readiness  for  the  departure, 
the  officers  and  men  gathered  on  the  shore 
where  some  of  the  priests  celebrated  mass,  and 
next  morning  (June  11,  1774)  the  Santiago  was 
towed  out  of  the  harbor.^  For  a  number  of 
days  she  drifted  southward  under  adverse  winds, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  5th  of  July  that  the  42d 
parallel  was  passed.  Thereafter  Perez  sailed 
steadily  northward   far  from   shore,  intending 


^  Two  priests  accompanied  the  expedition,  and  fctunately 
each  of  them  left  us  a  diary  giving  a  detailed  histo  y  of  the 
voyage.  This  brief  account  of  the  voyage  is  prepared  fr  jm  these 
journals. 


THE    NORTHWEST   COAST   AND   ALASKA       19 

to  reach  the  latitude  of  60°  before  making 
land.  But  running  short  of  water,  on  the  15th 
of  July  he  put  about  to  the  east,  and  five  days 
later  reached  the  coast  near. the  southern  limits 
of  Alaska.  He  named  the  place  Santa  Mar- 
garita. Many  Indians  came  off  from  shore 
in  their  canoes,  but  they  were  very  timid  and 
only  gradually  gained  courage  to  approach  the 
ship.  This  shows  that  the  sight  of  white  men 
was  new  to  them.  After  a  time  they  brought 
otter  skins,  mats,  and  nicely  woven  hats  made 
of  rushes,  to  exchange  for  cast-off  clothing, 
knives,  beads,  and  ribbons.  These  Indians  had 
among  them  a  few  iron  rings  and  other  metal 
trinkets,  which  some  suppose  to  have  come 
from  the  far-off  British  trading  post  at  Hud- 
son Bay.  In  that  case  they  must  have  been 
passed  on  from  one  tribe  to  another  across  the 
continent. 

Although  his  instructions  required  Perez  to  Theexpiora- 
reach  the  parallel  of  60°,  he  decided  that  the  ^^ZhLT 
condition    of   his    vessel   and   crew  would  not  coast 
permit  him  to  go  farther.     He  therefore  turned 
to  explore  the   land    southward   to   California. 
After  running  along   the  coast  about   six  de- 
grees, he    entered  a   "  C  "-shaped    harbor   just 
above    the    present    American    boundary    line 
(49°)  which    he   named   San  Lorenzo.      Here, 
too,  the  natives  were  afraid  of  the  Spaniards ; 
but    when    their   timidity  was  overcome,   they 

i 


20      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

were  glad  to  exchange  the  most  beautiful  otter 
skins  for  bits  of  ribbon  or  a  few  worthless  shells. 
From  San  Lorenzo  the  course  of  the  Santiago 
was  almost  continuously  southward.  At  fre- 
quent intervals  she  was  so  close  inshore  that 
the  land  stood  clearly  revealed  to  those  on  board. 
On  the  27th  of  August,  after  an  absence  of  two 
months  and  a  half,  the  good  ship  anchored  safely 
in  the  harbor  of  Monterey.  "  Thanks  be  to 
God,"  the  pious  chronicler  exclaims,  "  who  has 
permitted  us  to  arrive  most  happily  at  this  port, 
although  we  suffer  the  disappointment  of  not 
having  gained  our  chief  end,  which  was  to  go 
as  far  north  as  sixty  degrees  of  latitude,  there 
to  go  ashore  and  raise  the  standard  of  the  holy 
cross." 

Perez  had  made  a  general  exploration  of  the 
entire  Northwest  Coast,  from  the  parallel  of  42 '^ 
to  54°  40',  but  he  had  failed  to  reach  the  region 
visited  by  the  Russians.^  In  the  following  year, 
therefore,  a  new  "expe'dition  was  fitted  out,  this 
time  under  the  command  of  Captain  Bruno 
Heceta.  One  of  his  vessels  was  the  already 
famous  Santiago,  the  other  was  a  small  ship 
named  the  Sonora.  Heceta  sailed  under  in- 
structions to  reach  the  latitude  of  65°.  At  a 
point  near  Fuca's  Straits  (Point  Grenville)  he 

^  The  term  "  Northwest  Coast "  is  usually  applied  to  the  \  r-gion 
between  these  parallels,  and  includes  what  now  is  comprised  i'^  the 
coasts  of  Oregon,  Washington,  and  British  Columbia.  > 

\] 


Mj^^THE 


THE  NORTHWEST   COAST   AND   ALASKA      21 

landed  and  went  through  the  ceremony  of 
taking  possession  of  the  country.  Soon  after 
this  he  decided  for  no  very  good  reason,  so  far 
as  we  can  see,  to  return  to  CaHfornia.  On  the 
17th  of  August,  while  running  southward  along 
the  coast,  he  discovered  "a  bay  with  strong 
eddies  and  currents,  indicating  the  mouth  of  a 
large  river  or  strait."  ^  Heceta  did  not  enter  this 
stream.  Had  he  done^'so  the  River  of  the 
West  might  to-day  be  known  under  a  different 
name  from  that  with  which  we  are  all  familiar ; 
for  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Spanish  navigator 
describes  the  bay  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia. 

The  Sonora,  commanded  by  Cuadra,  had  been  cuadra 
separated  from  the  flasfship,  and  when   Heceta  ^^^^hes 

1  1  1   1  ^^  .  1  •  1    r      latitude  58° 

turned  southward  her  mtrepid  captain  was  left 
to  follow  his  own  inclinations.  He  first  ran 
many  leagues  to  the  west,  and  then  veering 
about  northward,  finally  saw  (in  latitude  57°) 
the  snowy  peak  of  a  great  mountain,  to  which 
he  gave  the  name  of  "  San  Jacinto."  Opposite 
this  he  landed,  and  for  the  second  time  the 
coast  of  the  North  Pacific  was  formally  claimed 
as  a  part  of  the  dominions  of  Spain.  Before 
turning  southward  he  reached  the  latitude  of 
58°.  Since  the  Russians  had  already  seen 
points  in"  Alaska  from  the  65th  to  the  60th 
parallels,  this  voyage  nearly  completes  the 
first  general  exploration  of  the  Pacific  Coast. 

^  Th /quotation  is  from  Bancroft,  "Northwest  Coast/'  I,  p.  163. 


22       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Origin  of  We  have  now  reached  an  important  turning 

expedition  point  in  the  history  of  the  Northwest  Coast. 
The  fears  of  the  Spanish  were  about  to  be 
realized;  for  in  1776  the  British  government 
resolved  to  send  to  the  Pacific  the  first  explorer 
to  enter  those  waters  from  England  since_the 
vo-yage  of  Sir  Francis  Drake.  The  object  of 
the  new  expedition  was  to  find  a  passage  east- 
ward, around  the  northern  end  of  North 
America,  from  Bering's  Strait.  During  the 
early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  Great 
Britain  had  sacrificed  valuable  lives  in  the 
effort  to  find  a  Northwest  Passage  from  the 
Atlantic  into  the  Pacific.  Henry  Hudson,  for 
example,  perished  in  the  great  bay  which  bears 
his  name ;  but  all  to  no  effect.  Then,  for 
more  than  one  hundred  years,  very  little  was 
done.  About  1750  the  subject  of  the  North- 
west Passage  came  up  prominently  once  more 
and  could  never  afterward  be  dismissed.  By 
this  time  it  was  known  that  North  America 
was  separated  from  Asia  by  a  strait*  which 
extended  north  and  south;  for  tlie  Danish 
navigator,  Vitus  Bering,  while  exploring  for 
the  Russian  government  in  1728,  had  passed 
around  the  northeastern  point  of  Asia,  and  a 
few  years  later  (1741)  had  crossed  over  to 
the  coast  of  Alaska.  It  was  also  known  that 
there  was  open  sea  *far  to  the  nortrx\  est  of 
Hudson    Bay;    for  jn    the    years    i76ci-i772 


tfr 


THE    NORTHWEST    COAST   AND  ALASKA       23 

Samuel  Hearne,  who  was  sent  out  by  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  had  traversed  a  thou- 
sand miles  of  wilderness  from  the  Hudson's 
Bay  post  on  Churchill  River,  and  traced  the 
Coppermine  River  to  its  outlet  in  a  northern 
ocean.  This  encouraged  the  British  govern- 
ment to  begin  the  search  once  more,  starting 
from  two  opposite  points,  Baffin's  Bay  on  the 
east  and  Bering's  Strait  on  the  w^est.  For  the 
second  part  of  this  enterprise  they  selected 
their  greatest  explorer,  Captain  James  Cook. 
He  had  distinguished  himself  during  the  pre- 
ceding half-dozen  years  by  the  discovery  of  New 
Zealand  and  other  islands  in  the  South  Pacific, 
and  by  exploring  the  coasts  of  Australia.  He 
was  fitted  out  in  the  most  complete  fashion 
with  two  excellent  ships,  the  Discovery  and  the 
Resolution.  The  latter,  his  llagship,  was  the 
vessel  in  which  Cook  had  made  his  long  cruise 
in  the  Pacific  during  the  years  17^2-1774. 

Cook's  instructions  were  issued  on  the  6th  cook' 
of  July  (1776),  and  he  sailed  on  the  12th  of  the 
same  month.  He  was  ordered  to  enter  the 
South  Pacific,  and  after  making  some  further 
explorations  in  those  waters,  to  run  to  the 
coast  of  "  New  Albion."  He  was  then  to  ex- 
plore northward  to  65°,  and  endeavor  to  find 
a  way  from  Bering's  Strait  into  the  Atlantic. 
Aside  from  their  main  features,  the  instructions 
are,  interesting  in  two  other  particulars.     The 


24      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

first  is  the  allusion  to  Drake's  pretended  dis- 
coveries of  two  centuries  earlier;  the  second 
is  the  date,  which  Americans  will  recognize 
as  strangely  near  the  time  when  the  English 
colonies  on  the  Atlantic  declared  their  inde- 
pendence of  the  mother  country.  *'  It  would 
almost  seem    as  if    Great  Britain  was  making 


Tereoboo,  King  of  Owyhee,  bringing  Presents  to 
Captain  Cook. 


haste  to  gain  an  empire  on  the  Pacific  which 
might  partly  recompense  her  for  losses  on  the 
opposite  coast. 

After  spending  about  eighteen  months  in 
southern  waters,  Cook  sailed  northward,  and 
early  in  January,  1778,  discovered  a  group  of 
islands  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  his 
patron,  the  Earl  of  Sandwich.  Two  months 
later  he  came  in  sight  of  the  Orego//  coast  in 


^^^^^^I 


E   NORTHWEST  COAST  AND  ALASKA       25 

about  latitude  44°.  He  then  ran  up  the  coast 
to  the  47th  parallel,  where  he  commenced  a 
careful  search  for  a  strait.  An  old  tradition, 
published  in  England  as  early  as  1625,  de- 
clared that  an  Italian  pilot,  Juan  de  Fuca,  had 
once  entered  an  inlet  on  this  part  of  the  coast, 
and  sailed  without  interruption  through  to  the 
Atlantic.  This  was  exactly  the  sort  of  pas- 
sage for  which  the  British  were  seeking. 
Cook  examined  the  supposed  locality  of  the 
inlet  with  great  attention  but  no  success.  He 
was  convinced  that  the  story  of  Juan  de  Fuca 
was  a  myth,  like  so  many  other  mariner's  tales.^ 

In  about  latitude  49°  Cook  probably  entered  From 
the  identical  harbor  which  Perez  had  named  San  ^°°^^^ 

boun-l 

Lorenzo.  To  this  he  gave  the  now  well-known  northward 
name  of  Nootka  Sound.  Hundreds  of  Indians 
crowded  around  the  vessel  in  their  canoes, 
bringing  skins  and  furs  for  barter  with  the 
sailors.  Hoisting  his  anchors  and  steering 
northwest.  Cook  saw  San  Jacinto  Mountain,  so 
named  by  Cuadra  three  years  before.  To  this 
the  Englishman  gave  the  new  name  "  Mt. 
Edgecumbe,"  by  which  it  is  still  known.  In 
latitude  60°  he  saw  another  towering  peak, 
and  learning  that  the  Russians  had  given  the 
name  "  St.  Elias  "  to  some  point  in  this  vicinity, 

1  A  few  years  later  (1787)  an  inlet  was  found  in  this,  latitude 
by  Barclay,  another  Englishman,  and  named  after  the  Italian 
pilot  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Straits  of  Juan  de  Fuca. 


26       A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Death  of 

Captain 

Cook 

The  map  of 
the  Pacific 
coast  com- 
pleted 


he  applied  it  to  the  imposing  mountain  whose 
glistening  summit  is  such  a  conspicuous  land- 
mark to  all  mariners  sailing  along  the  coast  of 
Alaska.  In  a  way  it  separated  the  explorations 
which  had  been  carried  on  by  the  Russians  at 
intervals  since  1728  from  those  recently  made 
by  the  Spaniards.  Cook  held  his  course  north- 
westward, searching  the  coast  for  an  eastward 
passage,  and  finally  sailed  through  Bering's 
Strait.  It  was  the  9th  of  August,  1778,  when 
he  reached  "the  northwestern  extremity  of  all 
America,"  in  latitude  65°  48'.  Directly  oppo- 
site he  found  the  northeasternmost  point  of  the 
Asiatic  continent.  The  former  he  called  "  Cape 
Prince  of  Wales,"  the  latter  "  East  Cape."  It 
was  already  too  late  in  the  season  to  attempt  a 
passage  through  the  northern  sea,  and  there- 
fore Cook  turned  southward  to  spend  the  winter 
in  the  new  tropical  islands  discovered  at  the 
opening  of  the  year.  Unfortunately,  through 
some  misunderstanding  with  the  inhabitants 
of  Hawaii,  the  great  captain  was  attacked  and 
killed  by  these  barbarians,  February  16,  1779. 
Cook  was  not  the  discoverer  of  the  North- 
west Coast.  Thathonor  belongs  to  the  Span- 
iards, while  the  Russians  were  first  on  the 
coast  of  Alaska.  Bu t  _in _ 1 778  .there  \ /ere  n o 
carefully  drawn  charts  to  show  what  had  al- 
ready been  achieved.  Many  rumors,  and  a  few 
written  statements,  containing  a  mixture  of  fact 


THE  NORTHWEST   COAST  AND   ALASKA       2/ 

and  fable,  were  all  that  the  English  navigator 
had  to  rely  upon.  His  exploration  was,  there- 
fore, independent  of  all  the  preceding,  and  his 
surveys  were  more  accurate  than  any  which  had 
3^et  been  made.  While  much  still  remained  to 
be  done  in  the  way  of  filling  in  details,  it  is  no 
mere  fancy  to  say  that  Cook  had  completed  the 
work  which  Balboa  began.  The  map  of  the 
western  coast  line  of  our  continent  had  been 
traced,  aiiiid  mighty  perils  by  sea  and  shore, 
testing  the  valor  of  seven  generations. 


CHAPTER  III 

NOOTKA  SOUND  AND  THE  COLUMBIA 

First  sale  of       The  voyage  of  Captain  Cook  had  one  result 
sea-otter       which  neither  he  nor  the  British  orovernment 

skins  in  o 

Canton  foresaw.  At  various  points  along  the  North- 
west Coast,  as  NoQtka  Sound  and  Cook  Inlet, 
the  natives  crowHipd  about  the  ships  to  ex- 
change sea-otter  ar^d  other  skins  for  any  at- 
tractive baubles  the  white  man  cared  to  sell. 
No  one  suspected  the  true  value  of  these  furs," 
and  those  who  made  the  purchases  intended 
them  merely  for  clothing.  But  when  the  ships 
of  the  exploring  squadron  touched  at  Canton, 
China,  on  the  return  voyage  to  England,  offi- 
cers and  men  sold  the  remains  of  their  otter- 
skin  garments,  and  a  few  unused  furs,  at  prices 
which  seemed  almost  fabulous.  "  Skins  which 
did  not  cost  the  purchaser  "sixpence  sterling," 
writes  one  of  the  men,  "  sold  for  one  hundred 
dollars."  The  excitement  on  shipboard  was 
intense.  The  crew  wished  to  return  at  once, 
secure  a  cargo  of  furs  in  the  Northwest,  and 
make  their  fortunes.  When  the  officers  re- 
fused, they  begged,  blustered,  and  even  threat- 
ened mutiny,  in  order  to  gain  their  object,  but 
of  course  in  vain. 

28 


NOOTKA   SOUND   AND  THE   COLUMBIA         29 

The  discovery  of  the  value  of  sea-otter  skins  The  world 
in  the  Canton  market  instantly  changed  the  1"^^^*;°^^"^ 
thought  of  the  world  with  respect  to  the  North-  in  the  North- 
west Coast.  The  region  abounded  in  furs,  but 
thus  far  had  not  been  visited  for  commercial 
purposes.  Great  Britain  and  Spain  had  vSent 
their  navigators  into  these  waters  for  other 
reasons.  The  one  desired  to  explore  the  coast 
in  order  to  confirm  her  ancient  claim  of  sov- 
ereignty over  it ;  the  other  hoped  to  find,  half 
hidden  by  some  jagged  cape,  the  long-sought 
highw^ay  to  the  eastern  sea.  When  the  news 
of  this  commercial  discovery  reached  Europe 
it  created  widespread  interest,  and  erelong 
ships  flying  the  colors  of  England,  of  France, 
and  of  Portugal,  began  regularly  to  visit  the 
Northwest  Coast.  Those  of  Spain  and  of  the 
United  States  soon  followed.  In  a  few  years 
men  of  every  nation  could  be  found  among 
the  crews  that  searched  the  coves  and  inlets, 
wherever  the  presence  of  Indian  tribes  gave 
promise  of  a  profitable  trade. 

The  first  of  these  trading  craft  arrived  from  Early  fur 
the  coast  of  China  in  1785.  It  was  a  small  l^^^'ll^^'^ 
ship,  apparently  flying  the  Portuguese  flag,  but 
commanded  by  an  Englishman,  James  Hanna. 
He  secured  a  cargo  of  five  hundred  and  sixty 
sea-otter  skins,  w^hich,  on  the  return  to  China, 
were  sold  for  more  than  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars.    No  season  passed  thereafter  in  wdiich  the 


30      A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

natives  living  on  the  best-known  harbors  of  the 
North  Pacific  were  unable  to  dispose  of  their 
furs.  Gradually  the  traders  explored  new  por- 
tions of  the  coast,  and  thus,  year  by  year,  other 
tribes  were  brought  under  the  influence  of  the 
trade.       In   the  course  of   the  first  ten    years 


Nootka 
Sound 


Nootka  Harbor,  1788. 

Launching  the  Northwest  America, 

this  commercial  activity  gave  rise  to  two  most 
interesting  historical  episodes,  to  which  we 
must  now  give  attention.  They  were  the 
Nootka  Sound  controversy  and  the  discovery 
of  the  Columbia. 

Nootka  Sound,  lying  just  north  of  the  49th 
parallel,  contained  several  of  the  best  harbors 
thus  far  discovered  in  the   Northwest.     With 


H^NOO' 


NOOTKA   SOUND   AND  THE   COLUMBIA         31 

deep,  quiet  water,  and  high  rugged  shores,  it 
afforded  ideal  anchoring  places  for  ships  arriv- 
ing in  distress  after  the  long  and  often  stormy 
passage  across  the  Pacific.  ^Its_Javorable  loca- 
tion on  the  line  of  coast  made  it  convenient, 
also,  as  a  center  for  trading  expeditions  carried 
on  to  the  north  and  south.  As  a  result,  this 
place  became  a  kind  of  international  resort  for 
ships  engaged  in  the  fur  trade. 

We  have  not  forgotten,  however,  that  the  Spanish 
entire  coast  was  claimed  by  Spain.  Her  title  JJj^gatened 
was  as  old  as  the  discovery  of  Balboa,  who  took  by  Russia 
possession  of  all  the  coasts  of  the  Pacific  as  he 
stood  upon  the  mountain  peak  in  Darien.  It 
had  been  strengthened  at  an  early  time  by  the  ex- 
plorations of  Cortez,  Ulloa,  Cabrillo,  and  others; 
and  later  by  the  conquest  of  California,  the 
northern  voyages  of  Perez,  Heceta,  and  Cuadra. 
But  in  spite  of  all  theories  of  sovereignty,  the 
Russians,  who  discovered  Alaska  and  the  adja- 
cent islands,  had  already  pushed  down  the  coast 
to  the  parallel  of  60°,  and  according  to  rumors 
which  had  floated  southward  were  threatening 
to  go  farther.  Something  must  be  done  to  stop 
these  encroachments.  In  1788  the  Spanish 
government  sent  out  a  squadron  under  Marti- 
nez and  Haro  to  gather  exact  information  con- 
cerning the  doings  of  these  Northerners.  They 
did  not  find  a  Russian  settlement  at  Nootka,  as 
they  had  feared,  but  met  traders  of  that  nation 


32       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


The  Nootka 

Sound 

controversy 


farther  up  the  coast  who  spoke  as  if  there  was 
a  plan  to  take  possession  of  this  iroportant  har- 
bor. The  Spaniards  learned,  also,  that  Nootka 
was  thefavorite  rendezvous  for  the  British  and 
other  ships  engaged  in  the  northern  trade: 

On  the  return  of  the  Spanish  fleet  to 
Mexico  it  was  at  once  decided  to  send  the 
same  officers  to  the  upper  seas  in  the  following 
year,  with  instructions  to  fortify  Nootka  Sound. 
This  was  done,  but  in  carrying  out  his  orders 
Captain  Martinez  seized  two  British  vessels  be- 
longing to  a  company  represented  by  Lieuten- 
ant John  Meares.^  This  incident  occurred  in' 
the  summer  of  jjS^and  resulted  in  a  diplo- 
matic controversy  and'  preparations  for  war  by 
both  Spain  and  Great  Britain.  When  the  con- 
test was  ended  by  the  so-called  Nootka  Conven- 
tion (November  29,  1790),  Spain  was  no  longer, 
even  in  theory,  the  sovereign  of  the  Northwest 
Coast.  By  this  treaty  she  gave  up  her  exclu- 
sive claims,  and  acknowledged  that  British  sub- 
jects had  equal  rights  with  her  own  to  trade  or 
make  settlements  "  in  places  not  already  occu- 
pied"; that  is,  anywhere  north  of  California. 

The  settlement  of  the  Nootka  Sound  contro- 
versy had  special   importance  for   the    United 

1  Two  other  vessels  were  temporarily  detained,  but  as  these 
floated  the  Portuguese  flag  and  were  taken  under  difi"erent  circum- 
stances from  the  ships  mentioned  above,  it  is  sufficient  merely  to 
allude  to  them.  The  vessels  over  which  the  controversy  arose 
were  the  Princess  Royal  and  Argonaut. 


NOOTKA   SOUND   AND   THE   COLUMBIA         33 

States.      Tf    not     only   g^pmrpH     rights   ni    trarlp   Effect  upon 

the  Ui 
States 


for  British  subjects,  but  prartiVall^r  nppnoH  the  ^^^  ^'"'^^"^ 


North  Pacific  to  the  commerce  of  every  nation. 
1Spain~never  took  an  active  interest  in  the"  fur 
trade,  and  after  1790  she  withdrew  down  the 
coast  to  California.  England,  too,  on  account 
of  the  long  European  wars  which  began  about 
this  time,  found  little  chance,  during  the  next 
twenty  years,  to  follow  up  the  advantage  she 
had  gained.  In  the  meantime,  the  North  Pa- 
cific may  almost  be  said  to  have  become  an 
American  lake.  The  keen  traders  and  daunt- 
less whalers  of  New  England,  coming  up  around 
Cape  Horn,  had  taken  possession,  and  were 
reaping  a  rich  reward.  Let  us  trace  the  origin 
and  some  of  the  most  noteworthy  results  of  this 
new  activity  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

When  Captain  Cook  sailed  from  Plymouth  John 
(England)  in  July,  1776,  he  had  on  boardjiis  ^^^yard 
flagship  an  American  named^-J^>lii^--^edyard. 
This  young  sailor  was  a  native  of  Connecticut, 
who  had  spent  his. youth  in  "  the  land-of  steady 
habits "  without  finding  any  steady  or  settled 
business  to  ^it  his  taste.  An  adventurer  by 
nature,  he  was  always  looking  for  new  and 
exciting  enterprises.  As  a  youth  he  attended 
Dartmouth  College,  then  a  small  school,  located 
beyond  the  bounds  of  settlement  on  the  upper 
Connecticut.  Ledyard  intended  to  prepare  for 
missionary  work  among  the  Indians ;  but  after 


on  Cook's 
expedition 


34      A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

spending  some  time  at  college  he  gave  up  this 
plan  and  decided  to  leave  the  institution.  He 
had  been  a  peculiar  boy  in  school,  and  he  was 
more  peculiar  in  his  manner  of  getting  home. 
Felling  a  great  tree  on  the  bank  of  the  river, 
he  hollowed  it  out  to  make  a  canoe ;  then,  with 
a  bearskin  for  a  bed  and  a  few  books  as  his 
sole  companions,  this  enterprising  navigator 
actually  accomplished  the  long  river  voyage 
from  Hanover,  New  Hampshire,  to  Hartford, 
Connecticut. 
His  services  A  little  later  he  made  up  his  mind  to  be- 
come a  seaman,  and  secured  a  place  on  a  ship 
belonging  to  the  British  navy.  Being  in  Eng- 
land when  Cook's  expedition  was  preparing,  he 
called  to  see  the  great  captainuand  was  given  the 
post  of  corporal  of  marines.  His  services  on 
the  long  voyage  were  of  great  value.  He  was 
vigorous,  alert,  intelligent,  and  good-natured ; 
was  always  ready  to  take  more  than  his  share 
of  the  hard  duties ;  and  went  at  them  with 
enthusiasm  if  they  promised  any  novelties. 
While  the  ships  were  in  northern  waters  he 
volunteered  to  explore  the  island  of  Onalaska, 
and  in  Hawaii  amused  himself  by  climbing  the 
loftiest  mountain  peak  of  the  island.  From 
each  expedition  he  brought  back  important 
information. 

After  the    fleet    returned    to    Great    Britain 
Ledyard  was  transferred  to  a  warship,  bound 


NOOTKA  SOUND  AND  THE  COLUMBIA    35 

for  Long  Island  Sound.     This  was  just  at  the  His  return ; 
close  of  the  Revolutionary  War.    The  treaty  of  trading proj- 

...  1         r    1     •  ^^^'  goes  to 

peace  had  not  been  signed;    but  the  fighting  Europe 
was  over,  and  the  young  corporal  felt  morally 
justified  in  leaving  the  ship.      He  escaped  to 
his  old  home,  found  the  mother  he  had  not 
seen  for  eight  years,  and  related  to  admiring 


The  Sea-otter. 

friends  his  thrilling  stories  of  adventure.  But 
he  was  not  yet  prepared  to  settle  down.  Indeed, 
ever  since  the  sale  by  Cook's  men  of  the  sea- 
otter  skins  in  Canton,  which  Ledyard  wit- 
nessed, he  had  burned  with  enthusiasm  to 
engage  in  the  fur  trade  of  the  Northwest  Coast. 
Here  was  the  opportunity  to  gain  both  fame 
and  fortune.  If  he  could  only  get  some  Amer- 
ican merchant   to   furnish  a  vessel,  with   the 


36       A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

necessary  equipment,  he  might  be  first  in  the 
field  and  secure  the  cream  of  the  trade.  In 
trying  to  carry  out  his  project,  Ledyard  inter- 
viewed the  merchants  of  Boston,  New  York,  and 
Philadelphia.  It  was  hard  to  persuade  these 
cautious  men  of  business  to  undertake  so  dan- 
gerous a  venture.  Finally  Robert  Morris,  then 
the  greatest  merchant  of  the  United  States, 
agreed  to  adopt  the  plan  and  enter  into  a  part- 
nership with  Ledyard  for  carrying  it  out.  We 
can  imagine  the  enthusiasm  with  which  our 
adventurer  set  about  his  preparations.  These, 
however,  did  not  proceed  far.  Either  because 
no  suitable  vessel  could  be  secured,  or  for  some 
other  reason,  the  arrangement  with  Morris 
came  to  naught.^  Ledyard  now  determined  to 
go  to  Europe  in  the  hope  of  finding,  in  Spain 
or  France,  the  mercantile  support  which  he 
could  not  obtain  in  his  native  country.  Before 
going  he  published  (Hartford,  1783)  a  little 
book  which  gave  to  the  world  the  first  general 
account  of  Cook's  voyage.  By  this  means  and 
by  his  personal  activity  among  American  mer- 
chants he  no  doubt  aroused  considerable  inter- 
est in  the  Pacific  Northwest;  and  therefore,  in 
spite  of  his  ill  success,  it  was  not  long  before 

1  A  ship  called  the  Empress  of  China  was,  it  seems,  en- 
gaged; but  for  some  reason  her  destination  was  changed  and  she 
was  sent  to  China  direct  in  1785.  This  vessel  opened  the  Chi- 
nese trade  with  our  eastern  cities. 


I 


NOOTKA  SOUND  AND  THE  COLUMBIA    37 


others  were  making  similar  plans  for  conduct- 
ins^  a  trade  from  Boston  to  the  Northwest  Coast 
and  to  China. 

jn  1787  several  Boston  merchants  fitted  out  The  Coium. 
two  srnall  vessels,  the  Columbia  and  the  Lady  ^H^"^^^^^ 
Washington,  with  cargoes  of  trinkets,  bright-  Washington 
colored  cloth,  and  blankets  for  the  Indian  trade. 
They  left  Boston  on  the  ist  of  October,  under 
the  command  of  John  Kendrick  and  Robert 
Gray.  The  ships  were  separated  on  the  voyage 
up  the  Pacific  coast.  The  Washington  traded 
with  the  natives,  visiting  Tillamook  and  other 
ports,  and  entered  Nootka  Sound  on  the  i6th 
of  September.  There  Captain  Gray  found  two 
British  ships  and  witnessed  on  September  20 
the  launching  of  the  Northwest  America,  con- 
structed by  Lieutenant  Meares,  the  first  sea- 
going vessel  built  on  the  Northwest  Coast.^ 
Three  days  later  Kendrick  arrived  in  the 
Columbia,  and  the  Americans  prepared  to 
spend  the  winter  at  Nootka  Sound. 

When  spring   came  both  vessels  sailed  out  Trading 
to  trade  alons^  the  coast  and  had  a  successful  crmse    The 

*-*  Columbia 

cruise.     Mr.   Haswell,  one  of  the  officers,  tells  saiistoChina 
us  in  his  diary  that  they  purchased  two  hun-  ^"g^^° 
dred  sea-otter  skins  of  one  tribe  in  exchange 
for  a  chisel.      We   do  not   wonder   when   he 

1  These  British  ships  were  the  Felice  and  Iphigenia.  The 
latter,  with  the  Northwest  America,  was  detained  by  the  Span- 
iards.   All  these  vessels  carried  the  flag  of  Portugal. 


38       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

adds,  "  I  was  grieved  to  leave  them  so  soon,  as 
it  appeared  to  be  the  best  place  for  skins  that 
we  had  seen."  Aside  from  securing  a  good 
cargo,  the  Americans  explored  along  Queen 
Charlotte's  Island,  and  gained  a  large  amount 
of  information  about  the  coast  both  north 
and  south  of  Nootka.  Toward  the  end  of  this 
summer  all  the  furs  thus  far  collected  were 
taken  on  board  the  Columbia.  Captain  Gray 
then  sailed  in  her  to  China.  He  sold  his  cargo, 
loaded  with  tea,  and  turning, his  prow  westward, 
finally  reached  Boston  (August,  1790)  by  way 
of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  This  was  the 
first  time  that  the  flag  of  the  young  American 
Republic  had  been  borne  around  the  world.  ^, 
Later  voy-  After  Unloading  his  tea.  Gray  was  sent  back 
age  to  the     ^q  ^]^g  Pacific,  whcrc  he  traded  up  and  down 

Northwest  i       •  i  r 

Coast  the  coast  durmg  the  summer  of  1791,  much  as 

he  had  done  two  years  before.  The  following 
winter  was  spent  in  the  harbor  of  Clayoquot. 
There  he  built  a  small  vessel,  the  Adventure, 
and  in  spring  resumed  his  trading  excursions 
with  the  most  important  and  unexpected  re- 
sult. 

As  Gray  ran  southward  along  the  coast  he 
discovered  (May  7)-Xjray's  Harbor,  where  he 
was  attacked  by  the  natives ;  and  on  the  i  ith  of 
May  (1792)  entered  the  mouth  of  a  great  river 
in  latitude  46'^"r-o'v""  This  he  named  "  Colum- 
bia's River,"  in  honor  of  the  good  ship  which 


.Jj 


r"~ 


NOOTKA    SOUND    AND   THE   COLUMBIA         41 

first  stemmed  its  mighty  current.     The  Colum-  Discovery  of 
W^bia  remained  in  the  river  ten  days,  shifting  her  b^Sler" 
^^anchorage    several    times,    and    ascending    the  May  n, 
stream  to  a  point  "about  thirty  miles"  above  '^^^ 
the  bar.     Gray  "  doubted  not  it  was  navigable 
upwards  of  100"  miles.     Many  Indians  in  their 
bark  canoes  were  constantly  about  the  vessel, 
eager  for  trade.     Some  of  the  ship's  men  filled 
the  casks  with  water ;  others  tarred  and  painted 
the  ship;  still  others  were  engaged  in  making 
and  repairing  irons.     It  was  a  busy  time,  those 
May  days  of    1792,  when  the  estuary  of  the  __ 

.,      Columbia  first  became  the  scene  of  commerce 
conducted  by  civilized  man. 

We  can  but  marvel  that  this  great  discovery  Failure  of 
should  have  been  left  for  the  American  trader,  Scares' 
when   the   government   expeditions    of    Great  Cook,  and 
Britain    and    Spain    had    been    cruising   along     ^^^'^^^^'^ 
those   shores   for   many   years.      In    1775    the 
Spaniards  had  actually  discovered   the  bay  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia ;  but  while  Heceta 
suspected  the  existence  of  a  river,  he  failed  to 
enter  the   stream  itself.     Thirteen  years  later 
Lieutenant    Meares,  the    English    trader,   who  ^ 

figures  so  prominently  in   the  Nootka   Sound  ^    y\ 

affair,  sailed  along  the  line  of  breakers  just  out--  ^/ 

side  the  bar.  He  named  the  indentation  which 
he  saw  "  Deception  Bay  " ;  and  so  far  from  dis- 
covering that  it  was  in  fact  the  estuary  of  a 
great   river,   Meares   went   out   of   his   way  to 


42      A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

declare  "  that  no  such  river  as  St.  Roc  exists, 
as  laid  down  on  Spanish  charts." 

Captain  Cook  passed  up  the  coast  in  1778 
without  suspecting  the  presence  of  the  river, 
and  just  two  weeks  before  Gray  made  his 
famous  discovery,  Captain  George  Vancouver 
examined  carefully  the  very  opening  through 
which  the  river  pours  its  continental  flood  into 
the  ocean.  Vancouver  noted  simply  "  the  ap- 
pearance of  an  inlet,  or  small  river,  the  land 
behind  it  not  indicating  it  to  be  of  any  great 
extent;  nor  did  it  seem  to  be  accessible  for 
vessels  of  our  burden."  With  this  reflection, 
and  the  statement  that  he  did  not  consider  "  this 
opening  worthy  of  more  attention,"  he  contin- 
ued his  northward  voyage.  A  few  weeks  later 
he  received,  at  Puget  Sound,  the  news  of  Gray's 
wonderful  discovery. 

Vancouver  sent  Lieutenant  Broughton  to  the 
Columbia  in  October,  and  through  him  explored 
it  to  Point  Vancouver,  about  one  hundred  miles 
from  the  bar.  He  made  light  of  Gray's  exploit, 
trying  to  show  that  the  trader  had  not  entered 
the  river  proper,  but  only  the  inlet  at  its  mouth. 
The  world  has  been  more  generous  than  this 
distinguished  British  navigator.  It  honors  the 
captain  of  the  Boston  trading  ship  as  the  real 
discoverer  of  the  Columbia,  and  ranks  his 
achievement  as  one  of  the  noteworthy  events 
in  the  history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest. 


CHAPTER   IV 

EARLY    EXPLORATIONS    WESTWARD 

Since  the  first  planting  of  colonies  along  the  The  west- 
Atlantic  coast,  the  search  for  a  strait  had  often  ^^"^^''snv^' 
taken  the  form  of  a  search  for  a  west-flowing 
river.  At  first  it  was  supposed  that  North 
America  was  very  narrow,  and  that  the  larger 
streams  falling  into  the  Atlantic  must  have 
their  sources  near  others,  flowing  westward. 
The  problem  of  a  water  way  to  the  Pacific 
could  be  settled,  therefore,  by  connecting  the 
headwaters  of  an  east  and  a  west  flowing 
stream.  It  was  with  this  thought  that  King 
James  required  the  first  English  colonists  to 
explore  the  rivers  of  Virginia  for  their  western 
connections. 

But   nature  appeared   to  favor  the   French,  Frenchmen 
rather  than  the  English  colonists,  with  an  open  e^pio^rthe 
highway  across  the   continent.     Within  a  few  Mississippi 
years  after  the  founding  of  Quebec,  Champlain 
had  explored   the   Ottawa    River  and  reached 
Lake    Huron.     Shortly  afterward   he  sent  his 
agent,  Jean  Nicolet,  westward  up  the  lakes  to 
visit  the  Indian  tribes  in  what  is  now  Wiscon- 
sin.    There  the  French  learned  of  a  great  river 

43 


44      A  HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

to  the  west,  which  they  rejoiced  to  think  would 
afford  the  long-sought  passage  to  the  South 
Sea.  In  1673  Joliet  and  Father  Marquette  set 
out  to  explore  this  river.  They  launched  their 
bark  canoes  at  Green  Bay,  ascended  the  Fox 
River,  and  crossed  over  by  a  very  short  por- 
tage to  the  Wisconsin.  The  descent  was  easy, 
and  in  a  few  weeks  they  were  floating  along 
upon  the  broad  current  of  the  Mississippi. 
They  hoped  it  might  carry  them  to  the  South 
Sea,  either  at  the  Gulf  of  California  or  some 
more  northerly  point.  By  the  time  they  reached 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  however,  the  ex- 
plorers were  convinced  that  the  Mississippi  was 
an  Atlantic  river,  and  that  its  course  was  almost 
directly  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  A  few 
years  later  (1682)  La  Salle  descended  to  its  out- 
let, and  took  possession  of  the  river  and  valley 
for  the  king  of  France. 

The  exploration  of  the  Mississippi  gave  an 
entirely  new  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  North 
America.  A  stream  greater  than  any  of  those 
east  of  the  Alleghanies  was  flowing  through 
the  land  for  two  thousand  miles,  and  draining 
a  vast  territory  whose  very  existence  had  been 
unknown.  From  the  eastern  mountains  great 
tributaries,  hundreds  of  miles  in  lensfth,  added 
their  waters  to  its  flood.  Other  large  rivers 
entered  from  the  west,  and  these  doubtless  had 
their  headvSprings  far  away  in  unknown  regions, 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS   WESTWARD  45 

lying  toward  the  setting  sun.  The  shore  of 
the  South  Sea,  so  vividly  present  to  the  imagi- 
nation in  these  early  times,  receded  westward 
a  thousand  miles.  Instead  of  reaching  it  by  a 
stream  interlocking  with  the  James,  the  Poto- 
mac, or  the  Hudson,  the  problem  now  w^as  to 
find  a  west-flowing  river  near  the  sources  of  the 
Red,  the  Arkansas,  or  the  Missouri. 

It  was  not  long  after  the  French  gained  con-  The  Mis- 
trol  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  before  the  Mis-  aTestTrn 
souri  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  the  great  "ver 
highway  to  the  west.  French  traders  and 
trappers  ascended  its  turbid  waters,  and  gath- 
ered information  from  the  Indians  about  its 
upper  streams.  Men  were  always  looking  for  a 
way  to  the  Pacific,  and  even  with  no  prompting 
from  natives  or  others,  would  have  constructed 
in  imagination  a  river  flowing  from  near  the 
head  of  the  Missouri  to  the  South  Sea.  But 
there  were  several  good  reasons  for  believ- 
ing in  the  existence  of  such  a  stream.  In 
the  first  place,  the  Spaniards  as  early  as  1603 
claimed  to  have  found  a  large  river  entering 
the  Pacific  near  the  southern  boundary  of  the 
present  state  of  Oregon ;  and  for  more  than 
two  hundred  years  they  had  known  of  a  simi- 
lar stream  flowino:  to  the  Gulf  of  California. 
Their  sources  had  never  been  seen,  and  it 
was  reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  could  be 
reached   from    the    upper    Missouri.      Besides, 


46      A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

there  were  traditions  among  the  Indians  about 
rivers  flowing  toward  the  sunset;  and  early 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  so  the  story  runs, 
an  old  chief  who  lived  on  the  Lower  Mississippi, 
traveled  for  many  moons  in  this  direction  until 
he  reached  the  western  ocean.  French  mis- 
sionaries, from  the  time  of  Marquette,  dreamed 
of  carrying  the  Gospel  to  the  tribes  on  the 
west-flowing  river,  and  other  Frenchmen  hoped 
to  establish  a  line  of  trading  posts  connecting 
the  Mississippi  with  the  South  Sea.  It  was  in 
pursuing  this  project  that  Verendrye,  in  1743, 
discovered  the  Rocky  Mountains  in  the  coun- 
try of  the  upper  Yellowstone. 
Jonathan  We  uow  comc  to  ouc  of  the  most  picturesque 

figures  in  early  western  exploration, — the  Ameri- 
can traveler.  Captain  Jonathan  Carver.  He  was 
a  Connecticut  man,  who  had  joined  the  Colonial 
army  during  the  war  against  the  French  (1754- 
1763),  and  had  performed  good  service.  When 
the  war  closed,  he  decided,  so  he  says,  to  under- 
take a  journey  to  the  far  west  with  the  hope 
of  making  discoveries  useful  to  the  govern- 
ment. On  this  expedition  Carver  was  absent 
more  than  two  years,  from  June,  1766,  to  Octo- 
ber, 1768.  He  visited  the  Great  Lakes  and 
crossed  over  by  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  to  the 
Mississippi.  At  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  (St. 
Paul,  Minnesota)  he  expected  to  prepare  an 
expedition   for   the    purpose  of   ascending  the 


Carver's 
travels 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS  WESTWARD 


47 


Missouri  and  seeking  for  the  River  of  the  West. 
Being  disappointed  in  these  arrangements  he 
went  up  the  St.  Peter  River  and  wintered  among 
the  Sioux.  From  these  Indians  he  probably 
learned  some  details  concerning  the  geography 


SOflMAY  ii  CO.,:N. 


of  the  upper  Missouri,  and  he  may  have  heard 
from  them  the  name  "  Oregon,"  or  something 
like  it,  applied  to  the  western  river ;  at  least  we 
are  indebted  to  Carver  for  this  significant  word. 
He  prepared  a  map  which  shows  his  ideas  con- 


48       A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

cerning  the  River  of  the  West.  We  do  not 
know  how  far  it  may  have  been  based  on  infor- 
mation gained  from  the  Indians,  and  how  far 
it  was  imaginary ;  but  however  produced,  it  is 
one  of  the  most  interesting  maps  connected 
with  the  early  history  of  the  Pacific  North- 
west. 
He  goes  On  returning  from  his  travels.  Carver  soon 

ngan  ^gj^^  ^q  Loudou,  wlicrc  he  spent  the  latter  part 
of  his  life.  For  his  knowledge  of  the  interior 
of  America,  a  large  part  of  which  he  no  doubt 
drew  from  earlier  French  travelers,  he  became 
an  object  of  attention  from  prominent  men  con- 
nected with  the  British  government.  He  tells 
us,  for  instance,  of  interviews  which  he  had  with 
the  Lords  of  Trade  and  members  of  Parliament. 
It  is  a  most  interesting  fact  that  the  search  for 
a  western  river  became  connected,  at  this  point, 
through  Carver,  with  the  long  familiar  search 
for  a  strait. 
Western  Wc  havc  already  seen  that  the  British  gov- 

NorthTast  ernment  was  at  this  time  anxiously  seeking 
Passage  the  Northwcst  Passage.  Hearne's  discoveries 
(i  769-1 772)  were  creating  a  belief  that  the 
passage  might  be  found  by  sailing  northeast- 
ward from  Bering's  Strait.  This  was  what  led 
the  government,  in  1776,  to  send  out  Captain 
Cook  to  the  Northwest  Coast.  But  Carver  tells 
us  that  an  expedition  had  been  planned  two 
years   earlier  to  accomplish   the   same  object 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   WESTWARD  49 

in  a  different  way.  It  was  proposed  to  send 
a  party  of  some  sixty  men,  including  sailors, 
shipbuilders  and  other  mechanics,  to  Lake 
Pipin  on  the  Mississippi.  There  they  were  to 
establish  a  fort  or  headquarters  from  which  to 
begin  the  march  overland  along  the  Missouri. 
From  the  head  waters  of  the  Missouri  they 
were  to  cross  to  the  Oregon,  and  sail  down 
that  river  "  to  the  place  where  it  is  said  to  empty 
itself  near  the  Straits  of  Anian."  This  party 
was  to  carry  with  them  across  the  cc/ntinent 
all  the  equipments  necessary  to  build  ships  on 
the  Pacific,  establish  a  naval  station  near  the 
mouth  of  the  "  River  of  the  West,"  and  begin 
the  search  for  the  Northeast  Passage.  Carver 
tells  us  that  the  plan  was  dropped  on  ac- 
count of  the  Revolutionary  War  in  America, 
which  broke  out  at  this  time.  Inslead  of  the 
proposed  overland  expedition,  the  British  gov- 
ernment sent  out  Captain  Cook,  whose  voyage 
not  only  added  to  our  knowledge  of  North 
Pacific  geography,  but  also  opened  up  the 
fur  trade  with  all  the  attendant  results  cle- 
scribed  in  the  last  chapter.  Among  these,  the 
most  important  was  the  discovery  of  the  river 
Oregon,  concerning  which  Carver  certainly 
knew  nothing  definite. 

From  this  time  the  story  of  westward  explora-  Jefferson  a 
tion  centers  very  largely  in  one  individual,  the  w^^^^'^""'^" 
great  American  statesman,  Thomas  Jefferson. 


50      A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Jefferson's  home  was  in  the  western  portion 
of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Virginia,  near  the 
eastern  foothills  of  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains. 
From  boyhood  he  had  been  familiar  with  the 
story  of  western  adventure,  and  was  the  per- 
sonal friend  of  many  of  the  men  who,  like 
Daniel  Boone,  crossed  the  mountains  to  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  and  Ohio.  Kentucky  after 
its  settlement  remained  for  twenty  years  a  part 
of  Virginia,  and  Jefferson,  as  a  member  of  the 
state  legislature,  or  as  governor  of  the  com- 
monwealth, could  not  escape  the  necessity  of 
interesting  himself  in  everything  relating  to 
that  section  of  the  West. 
Jefferson  the  Hc  was  a  man  of  broad  sympathies  and 
philosopher  intensely  active,  inquisitive  mind.  Of  all  the 
great  men  of  his  time  in  America,  not  even 
excepting  Franklin,  Jefferson  was  undoubt- 
edly the  most  widely  informed.  He  loved 
science,  literature,  and  the  arts  for  their  own 
sakes,  and  strove  earnestly  to  gain  at  least 
a  general  view  of  every  branch  of  knowl- 
edge. In  this  respect  he  resembled  the  great 
European  thinkers  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. For  all  these  reasons  he  is  not  inaptly 
called  "the  universal  philosopher."  Jefferson 
was  a  leading  spirit  in  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society,  which  aimed  to  gather  new 
information  in  all  departments  of  learning,  but 
laid  special  stress  upon  everything  pertaining 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS   WESTWARD  51 

to  the  geography,  and  the  animal  and  plant 
life,  of  the  continent.  The  settled  portions  of 
North  America  were  already  known ;  but  west 
of  the  mountains,  and  especially  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  lay  vast  stretches  of  territory  con- 
cerning which  only  vague  rumors  had  thus  far 
been  received.  The  Great  West  was  still  a  land 
of  mystery  and  wonder,  holding  peculiar  attrac-  ^ 
tions  for  a  man  of  Jefferson's  imaginative  mind. 
It  is  refreshing  to  read,  in  his  letters  written 
to  friends  living  on  the  western  waters,  requests 
for  all  sorts  of  curiosities  to  be  found  in  those 
regions,  —  the  bones  of  the  Mammoth  or  Mas- 
todon, elk  horns  of  unusual  size,  remarkable 
minerals  and  plants.  He  was  always  glad  to 
pay  the  charges  for  transporting  boxes  of  these 
things  from  the  place  of  their  discovery  to 
his  home  at  Monticello.  In  a  letter  to  Philip 
Nolan,  the  notorious  character  who  has  been 
depicted  as  "  the  man  without  a  country,"  Jef- 
ferson asked  for  a  full  account  of  the  wild 
horses,  of  which  large  herds  roamed  over  the 
Spanish  country  toward  Santa  Fe.  This  infor- 
mation, too,  was  for  the  American  Philosophical 
Society. 

In  these  letters  of  Jefferson  to  western  men  His  letter  to 
there  appears,  at  last,  evidence  of  a  desire  to  ^^^p^°^ 
know  about  the  whole  region  west  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi and  across  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.     On 
the  26th  of  November,  1782,  he  wrote  to  a  Mr. 


52       A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTH\^'^T 


First 

proposal  of 
transcon- 
tinental 
journey 


Steptoe,  asking  not  only  for  the  "  big  bones," 
which  seemed  so  hard  to  procure,  but  also  for 
"descriptions  of  animals,  vegetables,  minerals, 
or  other  curious  things."  In  addition,  he  would 
be  glad  to  receive  "  notes  as  to  the  Indians' 
information  of  the  country  between  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  South  Sea." 

On  the  4th  of  December,  1783,  almost  one 
year  later,  Jefferson  wrote  the  now  well-known 
letter  to  George  Rogers  Clark.  After  men- 
tioning his  desire  to  obtain  tKe  "bones,  teeth, 
and  tusks  of  the  Mammoth,"  he  says :  "  I  find 
they  have  subscribed  a  very  large  sum  of  money 
in  England  for  exploring  the  country  from  the 
Mississippi  to  California,  they  pretend  it  is 
only  to  promote  knolege.  I  am  afraid  they 
have  thoughts  of  colonizing  into  that  quarter, 
some  of  us  have  been  talking  here  in  a  feeble 
way  of  making  the  attempt  to  search  that  coun- 
try. But  I  doubt  whether  we  have  enough  of 
that  kind  of  spirit  to  raise  the  money.  How 
would  you  like  to  lead  such  a  party  ?  tho  I  am 
afraid  the  prospect  is  not  worth  asking  the 
question." 
Question  of  This  is  the  first  proposal  made  in  the  United 
States  for  an  overland  journey  to  the  Pacific. 
It  could  scarcely  have  appeared  earlier,  for  at 
this  time  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
closing  the  Revolutionary  War,  was  only  three 
months  old,  and  the  last  of  the  enemy's  troops 


the  route 


EARLY  EXPLORATIONS    WESTWARD  53 

were  just  leaving  the  country.  The  treaty  gave 
us  the  Mississippi  as  the  western  boundary  of 
the  United  States.  The  great  region  beyond 
the  river  belonged  to  Spain,  whose  colonies 
extended  in  a  broken  line  from  New  Orleans, 
through  Texas,  to  Mexico  and  Santa  Fe.  Along 
the  Pacific,  as  we  have  seen,  she  had  a  few  mis- 
sions and  presidios,  reaching  northward  as  far 
as  San  Francisco  Bay.  It  is  not  at  all  unlikely, 
since  he  speaks  of  a  British  plan  to  reach  Cali- 
fornia, that  Jefferson  wished  George  Rogers 
Clark  to  go  to  the  Pacific  by  a  southern  route, 
from  near  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  but  we 
cannot  be  certain.  Three  years  later  the  far- 
seeing  statesman  had  fixed  upon  the  Missouri 
as  the  line  of  approach  to  the  western  sea,  and 
he  held  to  this  idea  until  the  transcontinental 
route  was  opened  under  his  direction  by  Lewis 
and  Clark. 

At  this  point  we  meet  once  more  with  the  Jefferson 
adventurous  Yankee,  John  Ledyard.  In  the  !"^ 
preceding  chapter  we  found  him,  after  the  re- 
turn of  Cook's  expedition,  trying  to  persuade 
some  great  merchant  of  the  Atlantic  cities 
to  fit  him  out  with  a  ship  for  the  Northwest 
fur  trade.  Failing  in  this  Ledyard  went  to 
France,  where  he  hoped  to  meet  with  better 
fortune.  Again  he  was  almost,  but  not  quite, 
successful.  Jefferson  was  then  living  in  Paris 
as  Minister  of  the  United  States  to  the  court 


54       A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

of  France ;  and  since  Ledyard  was  always  in 
need  of  friends,  he  was  not  long  in  making  the 
statesman's  acquaintance.  We  could  easily  infer, 
even  if  we  did  not  have  the  testimony  of  both 
men  to  the  fact,  that  the  subjects  of  the  North- 
west fur  trade  and  westward  explorations  were 
most  interesting  topics  of  conversation  at  their 
frequent  private  meetings  and  the  dinner  parties 
of  mutual  friends. 
New  plan  to  Siucc  Lcdyard  had  failed  in  his  trade  project 
North^  he  was  all  the  more  eager  for  some  exploring 
America  vcuturc  which  might  bring  him  what  he  called 
"  honest  fame."  For  this  purpose  the  western 
portion  of  North  America  offered  the  greatest 
inducements.  In  his  over  enthusiastic  manner 
he  wrote :  "  I  die  with  anxiety  to  be  on  the 
back  of  the  America  States  after  having  either 
come  from  or  penetrated  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
There  is  an  extensive  field  for  the  acquirement 
of  honest  fame.  A  blush  of  generous  regret  sits 
on  my  cheek  when  I  hear  of  any  discovery  there 
which  I  have  had  no  part  in.  —  The  American 
Revolution  invites  to  a  thorough  discovery  of  the 
continent.  —  Let  a  native  explore  its  resources 
and  boundaries.  It  is  my  wish  to  be  the  man." 
Jefferson  wrote  that  Ledyard  was  "  panting  for 
some  new  enterprise,"  and  he  encouraged  him 
in  a  plan  to  explore  western  North  America, 
beginning  at  the  Pacific  coast.  The  traveler 
was  "to  go  by  land  to  Kamtchatka,  cross  in 


EARLY   EXPLORATIONS   WESTWARD  55 

some  of  the  Russian  vessels  to  Nootka  Sound, 
fall  down  into  the  latitude  of  the  Missouri,  and 
penetrate  to  and  through  that  to  the  United 
States."  1  >^ 

Ledyard  started  out  bravely  toward  the  end  The  Siberian 
of  the  year  1786.  In  order  to  reach  St.  Peters-  re^urn^akd'^ 
burg  he  traveled  on  foot  across  Sweden,  Fin-  death 
land,  and  Lapland,  through  the  blinding  storms 
of  an  Arctic  winter,  nearly  perishing  from  cold, 
hunger,  and  fatigue.  From  the  Russian  capital 
his  journey  was  less  diflficult,  and  he  arrived  in 
northeastern  Siberia  before  the  next  winter. 
There  he  waited,  hoping  to  get  a  chance  to 
sail  to  Nootka  Sound  in  the  spring  for  the 
purpose  of  beginning  his  great  journey  across 
the  continent  of  America.  He  was  used  to 
disappointments ;  but  that  which  now  overtook 
him  was  the  bitterest  and  most  terrible  of- all. 
The  Russian  government  refused,  in  spite  of 
his  passport,  to  allow  him  to  go  forward.  He 
was  arrested,  placed  in  a  closed  vehicle,  and 
"  conveyed  day  and  night,  without  ever  stop- 
ping to  rest,  till  they  reached  Poland,  where 
he  was  set  down  and  left  to  himself."  Sick 
and   almost  heartbroken,  he  made  his  way  to 

1  Before  setting  out  on  this  journey  he  went  to  London  and 
was  invited  to  take  passage  on  a  trading  ship  about  to  visit  the 
Northwest  Coast.  Ledyard  was  dehghted.  He  got  on  board 
with  his  two  great  dogs,  his  Indian  pipe  and  hatchet,  and  already 
felt  the  thrill  of  being  under  way,  when  the  ship  was  arrested  by 
the  government  and  the  voyage  abandoned. 


56      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

London,  where  he  arrived  in  May,  1788.  But 
soon  recovering  his  spirits,  in  a  few  weeks  he 
was  eagerly  planning  another  exploring  scheme. 
This  time  he  proposed  to  search  for  the  sources 
of  the  Nile,  having  been  engaged  for  that  pur- 
pose by  the  African  Association  in  London. 
He  started,  reached  Egypt,  and  was  already 
looking  forward  to  a  plunge  into  the  depths 
of  the  Dark  Continent,  when  he  fell  sick  and 
died  very  suddenly  in  November,  i  yS8.  A  few 
days  earlier  he  had  written  an  enthusiastic 
letter  to  his  old  friend  Jefferson. 
Jefferson's  Jcffcrsou  was  Called  home  from  Paris  in 
1790  to  become  Washington's  Secretary  of 
State.  Others  were  by  this  time  thinking  of 
exploring  the  West,  and  Captain  John  Arm- 
strong made  an  attempt  to  pass  up  the  Mis- 
souri in  the  spring  of  1790;  but  reports  of 
wars  among  the  Indians  turned  him  back. 
In  1792  Jefferson  supported  a  scheme  of  the 
French  botanist,  Michaux,  to  make  a  journey 
to  the  Pacific ;  but  this  also  failed.  Eight 
years  later  he  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  then,  at  last,  the  opportu- 
nity came  for  cariying  out  his  long-cherished 
project  of  western  exploration. 


return  to 
America 


Thomas  Jefferson. 


59 


CHAPTER   V 

ORIGIN    OF   THE    LEWIS    AND    CLARK    EXPEDITION 

When  Jefferson  entered  upon    his  office  of  Napoleon 

alarms  the 
Americans 


President,  March  4,  1801,  the  Mississippi  was  ^^^-^^^^the 


still  the  western  boundary  of  the  United  States. 
All  west  of  the  river  was  supposed  by  Ameri- 
cans to  belong  to  Spain,  which  had  been  in 
possession  at  New  Orleans  since  1763.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  however,  the  great  Napoleon, 
who  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  French  gov- 
iernment,  had  recently  forced  Spain  to  give 
back  Louisiana  to  France,  but  without  publish- 
ing to  the  world  the  treaty  of  October,  1800, 
by  which  this  was  accomplished.  When  the 
Americans  learned,  a  little  later,  of  the  change 
of  ownership  of  this  western  territory,  and  the 
'prospect  that  France  would  succeed  Spain  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  great  alarm  was 
felt  throughout  the  country.  "  Perhaps  nothing 
since  the  Revolutionary  War,"  wrote  Jefferson, 
"  has  produced  more  uneasy  sensations  through- 
out the  body  of  the  nation." 

I    A   glance  at  the  condition  of   the  West  of  The  western 
that  time  will  explain  why  this  was  so.  ^The  settlements 
entire  region  beyond  the  Alleghanies  was  by 

57 


58      A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

nature  tributary  to  the  Mississippi.  *  It  was  a 
Tertile  land,  containing  rich  valleys,  beautiful 
plains,  and  far-stretching  forests  which  once 
teemed  with  wild  game.  Daniel  Boone  called 
Kentucky  "  a  second  Paradise."  He  and  other 
pioneers  at  first  entered  the  region  as  hunters. 
Afterward  they  cut  a  road  through  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  and  Cumberland  Gap 
("  the  Wilderness  Road"),  through  which  they 
brought  their  wagons,  families,  and  cattle,  to 
make  new  homes  upon  the  western  waters. 
The  pioneers  of  Tennessee  arrived  at  about 
the  same  time,  just  before  the  Revolutionary 
War,  and  occupied  the  high  valleys  along  the 
head  waters  of  the  Tennessee  River.  Frpin 
these  beginnings  settlement  had  spread  rapidly, 
in  spite  of  Indian  wars  and  frontier  hardships, 
until,  in  the  year  1800,  Kentucky  had  a  white 
population  of  180,000,  and  Tennessee  92,000. 
By  that  time  Ohio  had  also  been  settled,  partly 
by  Revolutionary  soldiers  from  New  England, 
and  already  counted  45,000  people.  A  few, 
settlers  were  scattered  along  the  rivers  of  Ala 
bama  and  Mississippi,  and  still  others  lived  in] 
the  old  dilapidated  French  villages  of  Illinois 
Indiana,  and  Michigan.  We  will  not  be  fai 
wrong  in  placing  the  total  white  population  01 
Mississippi  waters  in  1800  at  325,000. 
of'ilfelrthe  'rhe  prosperity  of  all  these  people  was  ab 
West  solutely  in  the  hands  of  the  power  that  con 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION        6 1 

trolled  the  Mississippi.  At  that  time  there 
were  no  canals  joining  the  eastern  and  western 
streams;  railroads  had  never  been  heard  of; 
and  the  steamboat,  afterward  such  a  wonder- 
ful aid  in  transporting  goods  and  passengers 
up  the  rivers  of  the  West,  was  yet  to  be  in- 
vented. Manufactured  goods,  articles  of  little 
bulk  and  considerable  value,  were  carried 
across  the  mountains  from  the  Atlantic  sea- 
board by  pack  train  or  wagon,  to  supply  the 
frugal  wants  of  the  frontier  settlers.  Cattle 
from  the  great  ranges  of  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee were  driven  eastward  to  market ;  but  all 
the  other  produce  of  farm,  mill,  and  factory, 
the  surplus  wheat,  corn,  pork,  flour,  and  lumber, 
were  carried  to  the  one  invariable  market  at 
New  Orleans.  The  means  employed  in  trans- 
portation was  the  old-fashioned  "ark,"  or  flatboat, 
made  of  rough  plank  and  guided  by  rudder  or 
setting  pole.  Such  craft  were  a  feature  of 
every  farming  community  in  the  western  states. 
They  were  built  by  the  farmers  themselves, 
and  moored  in  convenient  streams  to  await 
their  cargoes.  Then,  when  harvest  was  over 
and  the  free  days  of  autumn  arrived,  the 
husbandman  loaded  on  the  annual  surplus, 
and  with  his  sons  or  hired  men  floated  down 
to  the  distant  Spanish  city.  There  he  sold  his 
cargo,  boat  and  all,  to  secure  the  money  needed 
to  clothe  his  family  and  buy  the  small  supply 


62       A   HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Dependence 
on  the 
Mississippi 


of  homely  comforts  which  they  had  learned  to 
demand.  The  return  was  by  keel  boat  up  the 
river,  on  the  back  of  a  Spanish  pony  overland, 
or  by  ship  around  to  the  most  convenient 
Atlantic  seaport. 

_So  long  as  Americans  had  the  free  use  of 
the  Mississippi,  all  was  satisfactory.  In  theory 
this  was  one  of  our  unquestioned  rights;  but 
the  practical  fact  was  different,  for  the  Span- 
iards owned  the  land  on  both  banks  of  the 
river  at  its  mouth,  and  our  people  were  de- 
pendent on  them  for  a  place  to  deposit  the 
produce  brought  down  until  it  could  be  trans- 
ferred to  ocean  vessels.  If  they,  or  the  French 
who  were  about  to  step  into  their  places,  should 
refuse  to  continue  this  right  of  -  deposit,  or 
should  charge  a  heavy  toll  for  it,  they  could 
sap  the  very  lifeblood  of  the  American  com- 
munities in  the  entire  trans- Alleghany  region. 

The  Spaniards  were  supposed  to  be  too 
weak  to  attempt  this  with  any  promise  of  suc- 
cess; but  France  had  become  the  Jread  of 
Europe,  and  ranked  as  the  greatest  military 
power  of  the  world.  It  is  not  strange  that 
Americans  should  take  alarm  at  the  prospect 
of  having  her  as  a  neighbor  on  the  west,  espe- 
cially since  this  would  mean  French  garrisons 
planted  about  New  Orleans.  The  uneasiness 
of  which  Jefferson  wrote  was  caused  by  the 
fear   that    France,    when    once    in    possession. 


Florida 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK    EXPEDITION        63 

might  undertake  to  oppress  the  Americans  in 
order  to  estabHsh  her  influence  over  the  west- 
ern people.^  Just  before  the  close  of  the  year 
1802  the  news  reached  Washington  that  a 
Spanish  official  at  New  Orleans  had  actually 
denied  to  Americans  the  right  of  deposit, 
which  was  guaranteed  by  treaty.  This  action 
not  only  increased  the  alarm  already  widely 
felt,  but  aroused  the  West  to  a  desire  for  war 
in  which  many  eastern  people  shared. 

Jefferson  was  by  nature   strongly  averse  to  Jefferson's 
war,  and  would  sometimes  yield  a  great  deal  in  NewOrieaL'"    \ 
order  to  preserve  peace.     In  this  case,  however,  and  west 
his  mind  seems  to  have  been  made  up.     We 
must  go  to  war  rather  than  permit  France  to 
take  and  keep  possession  of  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi.     But  it  would  be  best,  he  thought, 
to  delay  the  armed  conflict  as  long  as  possible, 
and  meantime  he  would  try  to  gain  the  con- 
trol of  the  river  for  the  United  States  by  the 
arts   of   diplomacy,    in    the    use    of   which    he 
was  a  master  hand.     The  plan  was  to  frighten 

^  During  the  Colonial  period  France  held  all  the  territory 
irained  by  the  Mississippi,  and  only  gave  up  the  region  between 
the  river  and  the  Alleghanies  to  Great  Britain  (1763)  because 
she  was  compelled  to  do  so.  After  the  United  States  came 
into  control  of  it  France  began  scheming  to  get  it  back.  This 
was  one  of  the  objects  of  the  Genet  mission  in  1793,  and  it 
occupied  the  French  government  at  other  times,  as  the  Ameri- 
cans well  knew.  Spaniards  and  English  also  had  an  ambition 
to  control  the  region  west  of  the  Alleghanies.  One  such  British 
plan  connects  with  the  Nootka  Sound  controversy. 


64       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Napoleon  with  a  threat  that  the  United  States 
would  join  Great  Britain  in  a  war  against 
France,  and  thus  induce  him,  as  a  condition 
of  peace,  to  sell  us  the  island  and  city  of  New 
Orleans,  together  with  West  Florida.  This 
w^ould  give  the  United  States  both  banks  of 
'the  Mississippi  at  its  mouth,  and  insure  the 
control  of  the  river.  Jefferson  had  already  in- 
structed Robert  R.  Livingston,  our  minister  to 
France,  to  undertake  this  purchase  of  territory 
from  Napoleon;  and  when  the  war  spirit  ran 
high  in  Congress,  during  the  winter  of  1802- 
1803,  he  sent  James  Monroe  to  Paris  as  a  special 
commissioner  to  assist  in  carrying  out  this  plan. 
At  the  same  time  Congress  took  measures  to 
place  the  country  in  as  good  condition  as  pos- 
sible to  bear  the  shock  of  a  future  war. 

It  was  under  these  circumstances,  when  the 
country  was  excited  over  affairs  ih~the  West, 
and  fearful  of  a  collision  with  the  overshadow- 
ing power  of  France;  when  the  fate  _of  the 
Mississippi  appeared  to  be  hanging  in  the  bal- 
ance, and  might  turn  either  way;  that  Presi- 
dent Jefferson  sent  to  Congress  the  now  famous 
message  of  January  18,  1803,  recommending  an 
exploring  expedition  to  the  Pacific. 

This  document  contains  two  distinct  parts 
which  ought,  however,  to  be  read  together. 
The  first  part  deals  with  questions  which  ap- 
parently relate  wholly  to  Indian  affairs.     But 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION         65 

the  reader  of  the  message  can  readily  see  that 
the  President's  chief  purpose  is  to  provide  ad- 
ditional protection  to  the  Mississippi  River. 
He  felt  strongly,  at  this  time,  that  our  interests 
would  not  be  safe  till  the  United  States  had  a 
large  population  in  the  West,  and  especially 
along  the  great  river  itself.  The  government 
must  encourage  the  westward  movement  in 
every  proper  way,  and  thus  "plant  upon  the 
Mississippi  itself  the  means  of  its  own  safety." 
But  especially  must  an  effort  be  made  to  estab- 
lish American  settlements  on  the  great  stretches 
of  unoccupied  land  immediately  along  the  east 
bank.  Since  the  Indian  tribes  owned  most  of 
this  land,  something  must  be  done  to  induce 
them  to  part  with  it ;  and  Jefferson  believed  that 
the  best  method  was  to  continue  selling  them 
goods,  including  plows  and  other  implements 
which  had  a  tendency  to  make  of  the  Indians  an 
agricultural  people.  With  the  expansion  of  their 
corn  fields,  the  growth  of  their  herds  and  flocks, 
they  would  see  the  uselessness  of  retaining  vast 
stretches  of  forest  for  hunting  grounds,  and 
would  be  glad  to  sell  these  to  the  government 
for  money  or  needed  supplies.  That  is  why 
Jefferson  dwells  at  such  length  upon  the  im- 
portance of  maintaining  government  trading 
houses,  where  they  already  existed  among  In- 
dian tribes,  and  urges  Congress  to  consider 
carefully   the   question   of   establishing    others. 


66      A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

The    Mississippi    River,   and   the    question   of 
how  to  defend  it,  lie  back  of  this  entire  dis- 
cussion. 
The  second        When  wc  comc  to  the  second  part  of  the 
P^"^^  message  other  questions  appear,  but  the  argu- 

ment for  the  protection  of  the  Mississippi  is 
still  present.  The  power  of  the  United  States 
extended  only  to  the  river  itself,  the  great  re- 
gion to  the  west  being  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  Spain,  which  was  about  to  hand  over  the 
country  to  France.  Large  and  powerful  native 
tribes  hunted  the  buffalo  upon  the  broad  prai- 
ries which  now  are  divided  into  numerous 
states,  containing  millions  of  inhabitants.  The 
Indians,  along  the  Missouri  especially,  were  so 
closely  connected  with  the  Mississippi  that,  as 
the  President  saw,  they  could  either  help  or 
harm  us  a  great  deal.  He  insisted  that  we 
ought  to  become  better  acquainted  with  these 
tribes.  They  were  trading  with  British  sub- 
jects whose  headquarters  were  at  Montreal  in 
Canada.  They  might  just  as  well  be  sending 
their  beaver  and  other  furs  down  the  Missouri, 
and  across  the  United  States  to  New  York  or 
Baltimore.  If  they  could  be  induced  to  trade 
with  Americans,  it  would  be  to  our  advantage 
in  every  way.  Those  Indians  would  then  be 
our  friends  instead  of  our  enemies,  and  would 
serve  as  a  protection  to  the  Mississippi  from 
the  \\(jst. 


THE   LEWIS   AND   CLARK   EXPEDITION         6/ 

In  this  manner  Jefferson  led  up  to  his  great  Agovem- 
project  of  sending  a  government  expedition  up  ditfJn^pf'o.' 
the  Missouri.  It  was  the  opportunity  to  explore  posed 
the  West  for  which  he  had  been  waiting  twenty 
years ;  yet  his  message  has  very  little  to  say 
about  exploration  for  its  own  sake,  and  a  great 
deal  about  commercial  treaties  with  the  Mis- 
souri River  Indians.  This  shows  simply  that 
Jefferson  was  a  practical,  tactful  man,  who 
knew  how  best  to  approach  Congress  on  the 
subject  of  an  appropriation  for  carrying  out  his 
plans.  "An  intelligent  officer,"  he  says,  "with 
ten  or  twelve  men  fit  for  the  enterprise  and 
willing  to  undertake  it,  might  explore  the  whole 
line,  even  to  the  Western  Ocean,  have  confer- 
ences with  the  natives  on  the  subject  of  com- 
mercial intercourse,  get  admission  among  them 
for  our  traders,  as  others  are  admitted,  agree 
on  a  convenient  deposit  for  an  interchange  of 
articles,  and  return  with  the  information  ac- 
quired in  the  course  of  two  summers." 

The  phrase  "  even  to  the  Western  Ocean  "  The  Pacific 
shows  clearly  that   Jefferson    had   in    mind   a  obgcUve 
genuine  exploring  expedition,  such  as  he  had  point 
planned    several    times    during   the    preceding 
twenty  years,  but    was    never   able  to    obtain. 
He  proposed  nothing  less  than  the  opening  of 
a  way  across  the  continent  to  the  Pacific  Ocean, 
and   a   careful    scientific    examination    of    the 
country  along  the  route.    * 


68       A   HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


The  Louisi- 
ana Pur- 
chase a 
later  event 


When  we  remember  that  the  message  was 
written  on  the  i8th  of  January,  1803,  it  becomes 
plain  that  the  exploring-  expedition  recom- 
mended by  Jefferson  had  nothing  whatever  to 
do  with  the  Louisiana  Purchase.  ,  At  that  time 
he  had  just  sent  Monroe  to  France  to  assist 
Livingston  in  the  plan  to  purchase  New 
Orleans  and  West  Florida.\  Neither  Jefferson 
nor  any  one  else  had  thus  far  hoped  that  we 
should  own  the  whole  of  Louisiana.  On  the 
30th  of  April,  however,  a  treaty  was  made  in 
Paris  by  which  Napoleon  transferred  the  entire 
region  to  the  United  States ;  and  since  the 
expedition  already  planned  did  not  set  out  for 
more  than  a  year,  it  has  often  been  supposed 
that  the  purchase  of  Louisiana  was  the  reason 
for  sending  it.  This  is  a  mistake.  Congress 
had  passed  a  bill  appropriating  twenty-five  hun- 
dred dollars  for  the  expedition,  and  President 
Jefferson  had  appointed  its  leader  before  it  was 
known  in  the  United  States  that  Louisiana  was 
ours.^  We  are  now  prepared  to  study  the 
organization  of  the  Lewis  and  Clark  expedition, 
and  to  follow  the  intrepid  American  explorers 
in  their  thrilling  journey  across  the  continent. 

^  This  paragraph  would  be  unnecessary  but  for  the  fact  that 
hundreds  of  books,  now  in  print,  contain  the  historical  error 
above  mentioned. 


CHAPTER   VI 

OPENING   A    HIGHWAY    TO    THE    PACIFIC 

Jefferson's  plan  for  carrying  out  the  explor-  pian  of 
ing  project  was  to  appoint  an  army  officer  as  o'^s^^i^^tion 
leader,  and  let  him  select  a  few  men  from  the 
military  posts,  wherever  they  could  best  be 
spared.  In  this  way  he  would  not  only  secure 
men  trained  to  obey  a  commander,  which  was 
an  important  point,  but  would  be  enabled  to 
fit  out  the  expedition  with  very  little  expense ; 
for  the  soldiers  and  officers  would  continue  to 
draw  their  regular  pay  from  the  military  de- 
partment. His  choice  for  the  leadership  fell 
upon  Meriwether  Lewis,  a  young  Virginian,  captain 
brought  up  in  the  neighborhood  of  Monticello,  Meriwether 
who  had  long  been  a  favorite  of  Jefferson.  He 
was  of  good  family,  was  fairly  well  educated, 
and  had  many  gifts  both  of  mind  and  person. 
From  boyhood  Lewis  had  been  fond  of  hunt- 
ing, and  had  made  himself  an  excellent  woods- 
man. He  was  also  an  enthusiastic  student  of 
plants  and  animals,  was  inured  to  the  hardships 
and  discipline  of  camp  life,  and  understood  the 
character  and  customs  of  the  American  Indians. 
For  a  number  of  years  he  had  been  in  the  regu- 

69 


70       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

lar  army,  but  at  this  time  held  the  office  of 
private  secretary  to  the  President.  His  quahii- 
cations  were  admirable  in  so  many  respects, 
that  in  spite  of  some  lack  of  scientific  training, 
Jefferson  "  could  have  no  hesitation  in  confiding 


Meriwether  Lewis. 

the  enterprise  to  him."  He  knew  Lewis  to  be 
"honest,  disinterested,  of  sound  understanding, 
and  a  fidelity  to  truth  so  scrupulous  that  what- 
ever he  should  report  would  be  as  certain  as 
if  seen  by  ourselves."  Besides,  he  was  "steady 
in  the  maintenance  of  discipline,"  and  would  be 
"  careful  as  a  father  of  those  committed  in  his 
charge." 


OPENING   A   HIGHWAY   TO    THE   PACIFIC       71 

It  was  at  Lewis's  suggestion  that  the  Presi-  wiiiiam 
dent  appointed  a  second  officer  to  share  the  ^^^'^ 
command  of  the  party,  and  the  man  to  fill  the 
post  was  also  selected  by  the  young  captain. 
By  a  curious  chance  the  individual  chosen  was 


William  Clark. 


William  Clark,  younger  brother  of  the  cele- 
brated western  general,  George  Rogers  Clark, 
to  whom  Jefferson  had  made  the  first  proposal 
of  an  overland  journey  to  the  Pacific  in  1 783. 
Like  Lewis,  Clark  was  a  man  of  military  ex- 
perience, having  served  under  General  Wayne 
("  Mad  Anthony  ")  in  the  campaign  against  the 
Ohio     Indians.     He    had    traveled    widely    in 


Jl       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  West,  on  several  occasions  even  crossing 
the  Mississippi.  Clark  was  a  few  years  older 
than  Lewis,  and  differed  from  him  in  being 
less  imaginative  and  enthusiastic ;  but  in  all 
respects  he  was  a  worthy  companion,  splendidly 
qualified  to  share  the  responsibility  of  the  great 
enterprise.  The  two  leaders  were  peculiarly 
fitted  to  work  together  harmoniously,  and  did 
so  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  expedi- 
tion. "  Throughout  all  the  trying  experiences 
of  the  throe^ears  during  which  they  were 
united,  their  respect  and  friendship  for  each 
other  but  deepened  and  strengthened  ^—  a 
record  far  from  common  among  exploring 
parties."  ^ 

Instructions.  Jeffcrson  personally  prepared  the  instruc- 
tions which  were  to  govern  the  leaders  in  their 
work.  "  The  object  of  your  mission,"  he  wrote 
to  Lewis,  "  is  to  explore  the  Missouri  River  and 
such  principal  streams  of  it  as,  by  its  course 
and  communication  with  the  waters  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean,  whether  the  Columbia,  Oregon, 
Colorado,  or  some  other  river,  may  offer  the  most 
direct  and  practical  water  communication  across 
the  continent  for  the  purpose  of  commerce." 

Notes  and  They  wcrc  to  keep  careful  records  day  by 
day  of  the  distances  traveled  and  the  points  of 

^  Quoted  from  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  "  Rocky  Mountain  Ex- 
ploration with  Special  Reference  to  Lewis  aij^l  Clark/'  New  York, 
1904,  p.  105. 


The  main 
object 


records 


OPENING   A   HIGHWAY   TO    THE    PACIFIC       73 

interest  along  the  route.  All  noteworthy  geo- 
graphical features,  such  as  the  mouths  of  tribu- 
tary rivers,  rapids,  falls,  and  islands,  were  to  be 
accurately  located  with  respect  to  latitude  and 
longitude,  so  that  a  correct  map  of  the  rivers 
followed  and  the  portage  between  them  could 
be  drawn  from  the  explorer's  notes.  The 
President  suggested  that  several  copies  of  these 
notes  should  be  made  in  order  to  guard  against 
their  loss  by  accident;  and  also  "that  one  of 
these  copies  be  on  the  cuticular  membranes  of 
the  paper-birch  as  being  less  liable  to  injury 
from  damp  than  common  paper."  The  officers 
were  urged  to  induce  as  many  of  the  men  as 
possible  to  keep  diaries,  and  several  of  them 
did  so. 

Full  instructions  were  given  about  dealing  Dealing 
with  the  Indian  tribes  along  the  route,  the  ex-  with  Indians 
plorers  being  required  to  "treat  them  in  the 
most  friendly  and  conciliatory  manner  which 
their  own  conduct  will  admit " ;  they  were  to 
impress  upon  the  red  men  that  the  United 
States  was  not  only  their  friend,  but  that  she 
was  a  great  and  strong  power  able  to  afford 
them  full  protection.  If  possible,  they  should 
arrange  to  have  a  few  influential  chiefs  visit 
Washington. 

The  President  made  his  instructions  complete  other 
enough  to  cover  every  detail  of  the  work  pro-  "^^"^"^^ 
posed.     Climate,  soil,  plants,  animals,  curious 


74       A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

geological  remains,  Indian  legends  —  all  these 
and  other  matters  were  to  be  kept  in  mind,  and 
all  possible  information  secured  concerning 
them.  "  Should  you  reach  the  Pacific  Ocean," 
he  said,  "  inform  yourself  whether  the  furs  of 
those  parts  may  not  be  collected  as  advanta- 
geously at  the  head  of  the  Missouri  ...  as  at 
Nootka  Sound  or  any  other  point  of  that  coast." 
If  so,  the  trade  not  only  of  the  Missouri  and 
Columbia,  but  of  the  Northwest  Coast  as  well, 
might  be  carried  across  the  continent  to  the 
eastern  seaboard  of  the  United  States.  One 
of  the  most  pleasing  paragraphs  in  the  instruc- 
tions is  that  in  which  the  kindly  Jefferson  says 
,  ,  to  Lewis,  "  We  wish  you  to  err  on  the  side  of 
your  safety,  and  to  bring  back  your  party  safe, 
even  if  it  be  with  less  information." 
I'repara-  Captain  Lcwis  spent  several  weeks  in  Phila- 

Gathering  dclphia,  uudcr  scientific  instructors,  and  then 
the  party  sct  out  for  the  Wcst.  Hc  cxpcctcd  to  get 
under  way  up  the  Missouri  before  the  end  of 
the  year  1803.  I^ut  delays  at  Pittsburg,  where 
a  drunken  boat  builder  kept  him  waiting  a 
month,  and  difficulties  in  navigating  the  Ohio 
during  low  water,  wore  away  the  summer. 
Clark  joined  him  in  Kentucky,  and  at  several 
of  the  western  posts  soldiers  were  enlisted  for 
the  journey.  Of  these  there  were  four  sergeants 
and  twenty-three  privates,  including  nine  Ken- 
tucky hunters.     Two  French  interpreters,  the 


OPENING  A  HIGHWAY  TO   THE   PACIFIC       75 

Indian  wife  of  one  of  these  (Sacajawea),  and 
Clark's  burly  negro,  York,  completed  the  party. 
Sixteen  additional  soldiers  and  water  men  were 
engaged  to  accompany  the  expedition  as  far  as 
the  villages  of  Mandan  Indians/ 

The  winter  of  1803- 1804  was  passed  in  camp  The  first 
at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Du  Bois,  opposite  the  ^^"^^'^ 
Missouri.  Captain  Clark  spent  most  of  his 
time  in  drilling  the  men,  building  boats,  and 
making  other  necessary  arrangements  about 
the  establishment ;  while  Lewis  purchased  sup- 
plies at  St.  Louis,  and  gathered  information 
concerning  the  route  from  traders  who  thus 
early  were  familiar  with  the  river  as  far  as  the 
Mandan  villages.  He  frequently  visited  the 
American  officers,  and  other  persons  of  note 
in  the  little  French  hamlet,  so  soon  to  become 
an  important  American  town.  On  the  9th  of 
March  he  witnessed  the  ceremony  of  lower- 
ing the  foreign  flag  and  raising  the  emblem  of 
our  own  country  over  the  territory  of  upper 
Louisiana. 

By  the  14th  of  May  the  final  touches  had  been  The  start. 
given  to  the  preparations,  and    the    exploring  ^aCharette 
party  commenced  the  historic   journey  across 
the    continent.      Their    supplies,    instruments, 

1  The  muster  roll  of  the  party,  on  leaving  Fort  Mandan,  is 
given  in  Coues's  "  Lewis  and  Clark  Expedition,"'  New  York,  1891, 
I,  p.  253,  note.  Much  interesting  matter  on  the  persons  com- 
posing the  party  is  contained  in  Eva  Emery  Dye's  "Conquest," 
Chicago,  1902. 


76       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

articles  for  trade  and  presents  for  the  Indians, 
were  carried  in  a  flotilla  consisting  of  three 
boats :  one  was  a  keel  boat  of  twenty-two  oars, 
with  deck,  sail,  and  breastworks ;  the  other  two 
were  small  craft,  of  six  and  seven  oars  respec- 
tively. Many  of  the  leading  citizens  of  St. 
Louis  turned  out  to  see  them  off.  All  recog- 
nized the  importance  of  the  enterprise,  and 
delighted  to  honor  the  men  who  were  braving 
untold  dangers  in  order  to  open  a  highway  to 
the  shores  of  the  Pacific.  As  the  boats  toiled 
up  the  swift-flowing  Missouri  they  were  often 
hailed  from  the  banks  by  groups  of  French 
settlers,  and  sometimes  by  companies  of  Ameri- 
cans who  were  already  beginning  to  emigrate 
to  this  newly  opened  region  of  the  West.  At 
St.  Charles  they  made  a  halt  of  several  days, 
and  it  was  not  till  the  25th  of  May  that  the 
explorers  passed  La  Charette,  the  home  of 
Daniel  Boone,  and  the  last  settlement  on  the 
Missouri.  From  this  point  their  path  lay 
wholly  within  the  Indian  country. 
They  meet  On  the  5th  of  Juuc  they  "  met  a  raft  of  two 
uadTrr  canoes  joined  together,  in  which  two  French 
traders  were  descending  from  eighty  leagues 
up  the  Kansas  River,  where  they  had  wintered 
and  caught  great  quantities  of  beaver."  Nine 
days  later  they  encountered  another  party  of 
traders  coming  down  from  the  Platte.  The 
4th  of  July  was  celebrated  by  the  firing  of  the 


OPENING   A    HIGHWAY   TO    THE   PACIFIC       JJ 

big  gun,  and  apparently  in  other  ways,  for  one 
of  the  journalists  says  that  a  man  was  snake- 
bitten. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri,  near  the  Indian 
mouth  of  the   Platte   River,  Lewis  and  Clark  ^^^"^^^3, ' 

Council 

held    councils    with    the    Oto    and    Missouri  Bluff ; 
Indians,  giving  the  chiefs  medals  to  hang  about  claries 
their  necks,  distributing  flags,  and  leaving  other  Floyd 
tokens  of  American  supremacy.     The  place  of 
the  gathering  they  named  Council  Bluff,  noting 
that  here  was  a  good  situation  for  a  fort  and 
trading  house.     The  soil  was  good   for  brick, 
wood  was  convenient,  and  the  air  was  "pure 
and  healthy."     One  other  incident  of  this  part 
of  the  journey  is  deserving  of  notice.     On  the 
20th  of  August,  when  the  party  was    passing 
the  site  of   the  present    Sioux  City,  Sergeant 
Charles    Floyd    died    and    was    buried    by  his 
companions  near  the  river.     This  is  the  only 
death  that  occurred  on  the  entire  journey. 

The  country  afforded  litde  variety  of  land-  Missouri 
scape  as  day  by  day  the  exploring  party  moved  ^'''^'  ^^^^" 
along   the   course    of   the    Missouri.      Almost  Buffalo 
everywhere  was    the    narrow  fringe   of   forest, 
running  down  to  the  water's  edge,  while  here 
and    there  a  wood-covered  island  divided    the 
current  of   the  river.     Parallel    to  the  stream, 
and  at  varying   distances  from   it,  low  ranges 
of   hills  separated   the  valley  from    the    broad 
prairie  beyond.     Deep  ravines,  cutting  across 


7$       A  HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

the  line  of  bluffs,  opened  natural  highways 
from  river  to  upland,  and  these  were  often  worn 
down  by  the  hoofs  of  the  buffalo,  which  regu- 
larly followed  such  paths  in  search  of  water. 
Immense  herds  of  these  animals  were  seen,  and 
many  were  slain  by  the  hunters,  adding  not  a 
little  to  the  good  cheer  that  enlivened  the 
evening  camp. 
Arrival  at  About  the  end  of  October  they  reached  the 

the  Mandan  ^iHasjes  of  the  Maudan  Indians,  within  the  pres- 

villages.  «-»  ^  '  r 

Fort  ent  boundaries  of  North  Dakota.     The  sharp 

andan  night  frosts  Warning  them  of  approaching  win- 
ter, it  was  decided  to  establish  quarters  here. 
A  site  was  chosen,  cottonwood  and  elm  logs 
brought  from  the  river  bottom,  and  a  "fort" 
built.  This  consisted  simply  of  two  rows  of 
rude  blockhouses,  placed  in  the  form  of  a 
letter  "  V,"  with  shed  roofs  rising  from  the  inner 
sides.  A  row  of  strong  posts,  or  palisades,  com- 
,  pleted  the  triangle.  Such  was  Fort  Mandan, 
w^here  Lewis  and  Clark  spent  the  long,  severe, 
yet  busy  and  not  unpleasant  winter  of  1 804-1805. 
Many  things  required  to  be  done.  There  were 
notes  to  copy,  reports  to  write,  maps  to  draw; 
articles  of  interest  found  on  the  trip  up  the 
Missouri  must  be  prepared  for  submission  to 
the  President ;  new  boats  were  needed  for  the 

The  winter's  upward  joumcy.     These  preparations  occupied 

Hdtth         ^^^  leaders  during  a  large  part  of  the  winter; 

traders         but  they  took  occasiou,  also,  to  visit  all  of  the 


OPENING  A  HIGHWAY  TO   THE   PACIFIC       79 

surroanding  Indian  tribes,  and  to  make  the 
best  arrangements  possible  concerning  future 
trade  with  the  Americans.  British  traders 
from  the  far  north  visited  them  at  Mandan 
during  the  winter,  and  carried  back  to  the 
posts  of  the  Northwest  Company  and  to  Mon- 
treal the  news  that  an  American  party  was 
on  its  way  to  the  Pacific.^ 


Great  Falls  of  the  Missourl 


In  March  the  thaw  came,  and  soon  the  Mis-  Upthe 


souri   was    once   more 


free    of   ice.      On   the 


Mi 

again. 


7th  of  April,  after  starting  the  keel  boat  down  The  Yellow- 
the  river,  the  eager  travelers  proceeded  on 
their  way,  rejoicing  in  the  expectation  of  soon 
beholding  the  River  of  the  West,  and  the  great 

1  It  is  probable  that  this  news  stimulated  the  Northwest  Com- 
pany to  hasten  explorations,  which  its  agents  had  already  begun, 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Rockies. 


80       A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTH  vVEST 

ocean  which  was  the  object  of  their  search. 
Before  the  month  closed  they  passed  the  mouth 
of  the  Yellowstone,  where  the  plains  were  "  ani- 
mated by  vast  herds  of  buffalo,  deer,  elk,  and 
antelope,"  usually  so  tame  that  they  allowed 
the  hunter  to  come  very  near  them,  "  and  often 
followed  him  quietly  for  some  distance."  Bea- 
ver, too,  were  especially  abundant  here.  From 
Indian  travelers  Lewis  obtained  a  good  ac- 
count of  the  Yellowstone,  and  the  country 
through  which  it  flows.  Near  its  confluence 
with  the  Missouri  was  "  a  situation  highly  eligi- 
ble for  a  trading  establishment." 
C  The  grizzly  One  fomi  of  game  found  in  this  region  was 
olheVtlTors;^^^^^^  tamer  than  the  explorers  desired  it  to  be, 
4he  grizzly  bears,  with  which  they  had  many 
thrilling  encounters.  On  one  occasion,  when 
he  had  just  discharged  his  rifle  at  a  buffalo.  Cap- 
tain Lewis  discovered  one  of  these  terrible  ani- 
mals rushing  furiously  toward  him,  with  jaws 
distended,  ready  to  tear  him  in  pieces.  There 
were  no  trees  at  hand,  and  the  captain  had 
barely  time  to  reach  the  river  bank  and  leap 
into  the  water,  when  he  was  able  to  frighten 
the  beast  off  with  his  halberd.  Other  terrors 
were  not  wanting.  A  buffalo  bull  storming 
through  camp  after  dark,  a  night  fire  and  fall- 
ing tree  trunk,  dangerous  rapids,  the  upsetting 
of  a  boat  —  these  are  but  hints  to  indicate  the 
nature  of  the  experiences  with  which  the  days 


OPENING  A   HIGHWAY   TO   THE   PACIFIC       8 1 

and  nights  were  filled,  as  the  explorers  pushed 
on  through  this  wild  but  interesting  region, 
toward  the  sources  of  the  great  Missouri. 


MULTONOMAH  FALLS. 


After  some  difficulty  at   the    Three    Forks,  Theinter- 
they  ascended  what  they  called  the  Jefferson  \l^^^^^ 
branch,  and  on  the   12th   of  August   Captain 
Lewis,  with  one  division  of  the  party,  arrived 
at  the  headsprings  of  the  river,  high  up  near 


82       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  summit  of  the  Rockies,  in  a  spot  "  which 
had  never  yet  been  seen  by  civiHzed  man."  On 
the  same  day  he  crossed  over  to  "  a  handsome 
bold  creek  of  cold,  clear  water,"  /lowing  west- 
ward. The  interlocking  rivers,  one  flowing  to 
the  Atlantic,  the  other  to  the  Pacific,  had  at 
last  been  found. 
The  sho-  It  w^as  not  long  before  he  discovered  a  party 

SacaWea  ^^  Shoshonc  Indians,  from  whom,  after  much 
delay,  horses  were  procured  for  the  journey  to 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  Columbia.  At 
this  point  the  Indian  woman,  Sacajawea,  proved 
extremely  helpful,  for  she  belonged  to  the  tribe 
of  Shoshones  and  turned  out  to  be  the  sister 
of  a  leading  chief. 
Character  of  The  cxplorcrs  wcrc  now  face  to  face  with 
sw?fthe  ^^^  most  serious  problem  encountered  during 
Rockies  the  journey.  The  western  slope  of  the  Rockies 
differed  greatly  from  the  eastern  in  being  much 
more  rugged  and  precipitous,  with  deep  caiions 
through  which  the  rivers  rushed  and  swirled 
for  great  distances,  until  finally,  on  emerging 
from  the  mountains,  they  became  navigable  for 
boats.  The  travelers  had  been  able  to  ascend 
the  Missouri,  to  its  source,  with  comparative 
ease ;  following  along  the  river  valley,  which 
was  usually  free  from  serious  obstructions,  a 
plain  and  easy  path,  sloping  so  gradually  that 
it  appeared  to  be  almost  level.  Now  they  must 
make  their  way  over  sharp  ridges,  through  ter- 


OPENING   A   HIGHWAY    TO    THE   PACIFIC       85 

rific  mountain  defiles,  choked  with  fallen  tim- 
ber and  masses  of  rock  debris.  Moreover, 
they  had  no  satisfactory  way  of  determining  problem  of 
what  route  to  take,  or  how  far  they  would  be  ^^^  '^o^*® 
obliged  to  travel  before  reaching  navigable 
water.  It  w^as  necessary  to  follow  the  advice 
of  their  Shoshone  friends  to  some  extent,  but 
the  leaders  soon  found  that  this  could. not  be 
altogether  relied  upon. 

As  a  preparatory  step,  Captain  Clark  ex-  ciark  dis- 
plored  a  way  down  Salmon  River  to  its  junction  ^ameg Lewis 
with  a  larger  river  to  which  he  gave  the  name  RWer 
of  his  friend  Lewis.^  But  he  learned  that  this 
stream  was  unnavigable  for  many  miles  below 
the  point  reached,  and  that  it  would  be  impos- 
sible to  follow  its  course  through  the  caiion. 
He  therefore  returned,  and  the  explorers  de- 
cided to  cross  over  to  the  river  which  flowed 
northward  (Clark's  Fork).  This  they  would  fol- 
low to  a  point  below,  where  an  Indian  road,  the 
Lolo  Trail,  was  said  to  cross  the  Bitter  Root 
Mountains  to  the  mouth  of  the  north  branch 
of  the  Clearwater.  For  nearly  a  month  they 
threaded  dark  forests,  over  steep  hills,  rocks, 
and  fallen  trees ;  made  their  way  along  danger- 
ous cliffs;   crossed  raging  torrents,  whose  icy 

^  It  is  now  commonly  called  "  Snake  River,"  a  name  distasteful 
in  itself,  and  possessing  no  significance.  In  this  volume  the 
original  name,  appropriately  conferred  by  the  explorer  in  honor 
of  his  friend  and  companion  one  hundred  years  ago,  will  be  used 
throughout. 


S6       A  HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Navigating 
the  Colum- 
bia to  the 
sea 


waters  chilled  both  men  and  animals.  Sortie- 
times  they  encountered  storms  of  sleet  and 
snow,  again  the  "  weather  was  very  hot  and 
oppressive."  Most  of  the  men  became  sick, 
and  all  were  much  reduced  in  strength.     Food 


The  Dalles. 

Mount  Hood  in  the  distance. 


was  so  scanty  that,  they  were  compelled  to  kill 
and  eat  some  of  the  travel-worn  horses. 

At  the  place  where  "the  north  fork  of  the 
'  Clearwater  joins  the  river  of  that  name,  the 
party  prepared  five  canoes,  and  on  the  morning 
of  the  7th  of  October  entered  upon  the  last 
stage  of  their  eventful  journey.  The  diflficulties 
of  travel  were  nearly  over ;  for  the  boats  glided 
swiftly  down  the  current,  and  ten  days  brought 
them  to  the  confluence  of  the  Lewis  and  Co- 
lumbia.    Here  they  were  greeted  by  a  proces- 


OPENING   A   HIGHWAt   TO   THE   PACIFIC       89 

sion  of  two  hundred  Indians,  marching  in  their 
honor  to   the  music   of   primitive    drums.     In 
two  weeks  they  passed  the  Great  Falls  (Celilo),  under  the 
Long:  Narrows  (Dalles),  and  Cascades,  reachino-  ^^^"^^7  °^ 

^  ^  1-1  .    ^    Mt.  Hood 

on  the  2d  of  November  the  tide-water  section 
of  the  river.  Then,  on  the  7th  of  November, 
they  heard  the  breakers  roar,  and  saw,  spread- 
ing and  rolling  before  them,  the  waves  of  the 
western  ocean  — "  the  object  of  our  labors, 
the  reward  of  all  our  anxieties." 

The   purpose   of   the   expedition   had    been  Establish 
achieved.     A  hiarhway  across  the  continent  of  "^^"^f 

■c>  -'  ^  quarters. 

North  America  was  now  an  established  fact,  Fortciatsop 
and  all  that  remained  to  be  done  was  to  carry 
back  the  news  of  the  great  discovery.  Jeffer- 
son had  instructed  Lewis  to  find,  if  possible,  a 
ship  on  the  Pacific  by  which  some  or  all  of  the 
party  might  return  to  the  United  States  with 
the  journals  of  the  expedition.  But,  while 
traders  often  entered  the  Columbia,  as  the 
natives  testified,  no  vessel  appeared  during  the 
winter  of  1 805-1 806,  All  that  could  be  done 
was  to  spend  the  rainy  season  on  the  Oregon 
coast,  and  take  up  the  return  march  overland  in 
the  spring.  At  a  place  three  miles  above  the 
mouth  of  the  Netal  (now  called  Lewis  and 
Clark  River),  on  the  "  first  point  of  high  land 
on  its  western  bank,"  the  explorers  erected  a 
low-roofed  log  building,  to  which,  in  honor  of 
the  neighboring  tribe  of  Indians,  they  gave  the      ^ 


90       A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

name  of  Fort  Clatsop.^  The  location  was  by 
no  means  ideal,  for  the  party  was  in  need  of 
food,  and  in  this  region  game  was  not  very 
plentiful.  The  winter  at  Fort  Clatsop  was 
therefore  a  time  of  real  hardship,  relieved  by 
the  hope  of  a  speedy  return  to  homes  beyond 
the  mountains.  The  shelter  was  completed 
on  the  last  day  of  December;  the  next  morning 
"a  volley  of  small  arms"  was  fired  "to  salute 
the  new  year."  Some  of  the  men  were  kept 
busy  hunting  the  lean  elk,  on  which  the  party 
was  forced  to  subsist ;  others  were  sent  to  the 
seacoast — seven  miles  distant — to  manufacture 
a  supply  of  salt.  At  the  fort  the  officers  busied 
themselves  with  the  notes  and  journals  of  the 
Completing  expedition.  On  the  nth  of  February  Clark 
the  great  finished  the  great  map  of  the  overland  route, 
so  often  printed,  and  a  copy  of  a  part  of  which 
is  found  on  next  page.  A  little  trade  with  the 
Chinooks  and  Clatsops  (mainly  for  dogs,  fish, 
and  wapato  roots)  formed  the  chief  diversion 
during  this  tedious  winter. 

1  The  Netal  enters  Meriwether's,  now  called  Young's,  Bay. 
The  fort  was  located  two  hundred  yards  firam  the  bank  of  the 
river.  It  was  in  the  form  of  a  square,  50  x  50  feet.  Two  cabins, 
one  of  three,  the  other  of  four,  rooms,  occupied  two  sides.  Be- 
tween them  was  the  parade  ground,  the  ends  of  which  were 
closed  by  means  of  posts  or  palisades.  In  the  June  (1904)  num- 
ber of  Scrib7ier's  Magazine^  Mr.  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites  pub- 
lishes for  the  first  time  the  ground  plan  of  Fort  Clatsop.  The 
drawing  was  found  by  him  while  searching  recently  among  Clark's 
papers,  "  traced  upon  the  rough  elk-skin  cover  of  his  field  book." 


92       A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

The  Teturn  The  days  dragged  painfully  by  till  the  23d  of 
uf^ch  23,  March,  when  our  travelers  commenced  the  home- 
1806  ward  journey.     Before  setting  out  they  distrib- 

uted written  statements  among  the  Indians, 
explaining  who  it  was  that  had  So  mysteriously 
come  to  their  country  from  the  land  of  the 
rising  sun.  These  the  natives  were  instructed 
to  show  to  any  white  men  who  should  visit  the 
river.  The  journey  eastward  was  not  without 
its  difficulties.  The  tribes  along  the  river  de- 
manded high  prices  for  horses  and  dogs,  and 
the  stock  of  goods  carried  by  the  explorers  was 
soon  exhausted.  But  both  Lewis  and  Clark 
were  skilled  in  the  use  of  common  remedies 
for  the  diseases  which  prevailed  among  the 
Indians,  and  by  selling  their  drugs  at  a  high 
price  they  were  able  'to  buy  the  supplies  which 
were  indispensable  to  them.  The  snow  still 
lay  deep  in  the  gulches  when  the  party  reached 
the  western  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  im- 
peding their  progress  for  many  days ;  but  in 
Arrive  at  St.  spitc  of  all  obstaclcs,  they  made  the  journey 
Louis  Sep-     ^j|-|^  complete  success,  reachins:  St.  Louis  on 

tember  23,  ^    ^  .  . 

1806  the  23d  of  September,  just  six  months  out  from 

the  mouth  of  the  Columbia.^ 

^  Captain  Lewis  went  at  once  to  Washington  to  make  his  re- 
port to  President  Jefferson.  Soon  afterward  he  was  appointed 
governor  of  Missouri  Territory,  but  died  very  suddenly  and  mys- 
teriously, in  1809,  at  the  early  age  of  thirty-five. 

Captain  Clark  was  for  many  years  the  United  States  superin- 
tendent of  Indian  affairs  for  the  West,  with  headquarters  at  St. 
Louis.     He  died  in  1838. 


OPENING  A   HIGHWAY  TO   THE   PACIFIC       93 

The  journals  of  the  expedition,  very  much  amended  and 
abbreviated,  were  first  published  in  18 14  under  the  editorship  of 
Nicholas  Biddle.  Many  editions,  based  upon  this  one,  have 
appeared  since  that  time,  the  most  satisfactory  being  that  by  Dr. 
Elliott  Coues,  New  York,  1891,  3  vols.  A  new  edition,  containing 
a  literal  transcript  of  the  complet-e  journals,  and  much  matter 
relating  to  the  expedition  not  hitherto  published,  is  now  being 
issued  under  the  editorship  of  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  LL.D. 


/ 


CHAPTER   VII 

A   RACE    FOR    THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER    FUR   TRADE 

American  The   explorations  of    Lewis  and    Clark,  to- 

in^erests"       gcthcr  with  Gray's  discovery  of  the  Columbia, 

west  of  the    gavc  the  United  States  a  good  claim  upon  the 

country  west  of  the  Rockies,  drained  by  this 

river  and  its  branches.     But  in  order  to  hold  it 

permanently,  as   against  other  nations  of   the 

world,  it  would  be  necessary  for  Americans  to 

take  actual  possession  of  the  region.    Here  was 

a  difficulty.     The  recently  purchased  territory 

of    Louisiana   had   doubled    the   area   of    the 

United   States,  and  would  furnish   homes  for 

millions  of  families.     Emigrants  would  find  no 

need  to  cross  the  Rockies  for  many  years  to 

come. 

The  chances       There  was  but  one  way  in  which  Americans 

a'bk  fur^^'"    could  make  use  of  the  newly  explored  territory, 

trade  and  that  was  by  trading  with  its  native  peoples. 

Lewis  and   Clark  found,  along  the   Columbia 

and  its  tributaries,  numerous  tribes  of  Indians, 

living  upon  fish,  game,  and   roots.^     Most  of 

^  Hundreds  were  seen  drying  salmon  at  various  points  along 
the  river,  and  the  Dalles  was  the  great  fish  market  of  the 
Columbia. 

94 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA  RIVER   FUR   TRADE        95 

them  were  wretchedly  poor,  lacking  every  com- 
fort, and  many  of  those  things  which  civilized 
men  regard  as  necessaries.  Yet  the  streams 
were  full  of  beaver,  and  if  traders  should  once 
begin  to  frequent  the  up-river  valleys,  as  they 
already  did  the  inlets  along  the  coast,  these 
Indians  would  soon  take  to  hunting  furs  in 
order  to  have  something  to  exchange  for  the 
goods  they  all  coveted.  Had  our  people  been 
prepared  for  it,  a  large  business  might  have 
been  built  up  in  that  region. 

But  at  the  time  of  Lewis  and  Clark's  return  American 
the  Americans  were  not  ready  to  take  advan-  ^-j^l^^^^^' 
tage  of  these  opportunities.  The  fur  trade  as  organization 
a  business  was  as  old  as  the  American  colonies. 
From  Plymouth  and  Massachusetts  Bay;  from 
the  Connecticut,  Hudson,  Potomac,  James,  and 
Savannah  rivers ;  it  had  spread  westward  with 
great  rapidity,  always  keeping  in  advance  of  the 
actual  settlement.  Long  before  the  Revolution- 
ary War  the  Indians  on  the  western  waters 
had  learned  to  listen  for  the  tinkling  bells  of 
the  trader's  pack  train  as  it  emerged  from  the 
passes  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Almost 
everywhere  "  the  Indian  trade  pioneered  the 
way  for  civilization."  ^  It  improved  the  trails, 
which  afterward  became  roads ;  it  planted  its 
trading   posts   at   important  points    along   the 

^  Quoted  from  Frederick  J.  Turner,  "The  Significance  of  the 
Frontier  in  American  History." 


96      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

rivers,  or  upon  the  Great  Lakes,  and  these  in 
many  cases  were  growing  into  great  towns.^ 
This  trade  had,  therefore,  been  of  the  utmost 
importance  in  American  history;  and  in  spite 
of  the  government  trading  houses,  which  had 
existed  for  a  few  years,  it  was  still  important. 
With  the  opening  up  of  the  Missouri  by  Lewis 
and  Clark  it  promised  to  extend  itself  rapidly 
to  the  Rocky  Mountains  ;  but  for  making  use 
of  the  country  to  the  west  of  the  Rockies  our 
traders  were  at  a  disadvantage  in  not  having  a 
thorough  organization,  with  a  large  capital  and 
strong  commercial  support.  These  would  be 
absolutely  necessary  in  conducting  operations 
at  such  distances,  by  means  of  ships  upon  the 
Pacific,  and  large  trading  houses  in  the  west- 
ern territory. 
The  British.  In  the  British  section  of  North  America  con- 
Ba^^and^  ditious  wcre  different.  There  we  find  two  great 
Northwest  compauics,  cach  with  a  large  capital  and  power- 
ful organization,  fitted  to  control  the  trade  of 
vast  wilderness  areas.  The  first  of  these  was 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  whose  forts  near 
the  mouths  of  the  rivers  flowing  into  Hudson 
Bay  received  each  year  about  seventy-five  thou- 
sand beaver  skins,  brought  down  from  the  far 

^  "The  trading  posts  reached  by  these  trails  were  on  the  sites 
of  Indian  villages  .  .  . ;  and  these  trading  posts  .  .  .  have  grown 
into  such  cities  as  Albany,  Pittsburg,  Detroit,  Chicago,  St.  Louis, 
Council  Bluffs,  and  Kansas  City."  —  Turner,  "  Significance  of  the 
Frontier,"  etc. 


Fur  com 
panies 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA  RIVER   FUR  TRADE        97 

interior  in  great  fleets  of  canoes,  manned  by  hun- 
dreds of  Indians/  The  second  was  the  North- 
west Company,  with  headquarters  at  Montreal. 
It  was  the  successor  of  the  French  traders 
of  Canada,  and,  although  young  (organized  in 
1787),  had  already  gained  control  of  most  of 
the  trade  along  the  Great  Lakes,  the  Assini- 
boin,  Saskatchewan,  and  Athabasca  rivers ; 
while  its  agents  were  to  be  found  on  the 
Upper  Mississippi  and  the  Missouri  as  well. 

By  a  series  of  wonderful  explorations,  Alexan-  The  North- 
der  Mackenzie,  an  ofificer  of  the  Northwest  Corn- 


Mountains 


west  Com- 
pany crosses 

pany,  had  even  opened  a  way  for  the  trade  to  the  Rocky 
the  Arctic  Ocean  (along  the  Mackenzie  River, 
explored  by  him  in  1789}^  and  across  the  Rocky 
Mountains  to  the   Pacific.^      In    1806,  having 

1  The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  received  a  Charter  from  Charles 
the  Second  in,  i66gu-Jn  1742  a  thousand  Indians  came  to  the  mouth 
of  Nelson  River  in  six  hundred  canoes,  bearing  fifty  thousand 
beaver  skins  ;  while  during  the  same  summer  the  fort  on  Churchill 
River  received  twenty  thousand  beaver  and  several  thousand 
other  furs.  The  natives  carried  back  blankets,  guns,  powder, 
shot,  hatchets,  knives,  tobacco,  brandy,  and  paint.  Prices  of 
goods  were  very  high.  A  pound  of  gunpowder  cost  four  bea- 
ver skins,  and  a  blanket  twelve.  The  skins  were  sold  at  the  rate 
of  six  shillings  per  pound.  It  is  declared  that  some  of  the  goods 
sold  at  a  profit  of  two  thousand  per  cent. 

^  Mackenzie  crossed  the  Rockies  from  the  head  of  Peace  River 
in  the  spring  of  17^3.  After  incredible  difficulties  he  found  a 
river  flowing  westward,  which  he  supposed  to  be  the  Columbia. 
(It  y^as,  in  fact,  the  Fra^__Riyer.)  This  he  descended  for  a 
number  of  days,  when  he  left  it,  and  followed  an  Indian  trail  to 
the  coast.  There  he  painted  on  a  smooth  rock  in  these  words 
the  story    of    his   great  achievement,    "Alexander    Mackenzie, 


98        A   HISTORY   OF  THE  PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

learned  of  Lewis  and  Clark's  expedition,  the 
company  sent  Simon  Fraser  to  this  western 
district.  He  built  a  fort  high  up  on  a  river 
navigated  by  Mackenzie,  believing,  as  the  ex- 
plorer did,  that  this  was  the  Columbia.  Two 
years  later  Fraser  descended  to  its  mouth 
and  found  out  his  mistake.  It  was  then 
called  Fraser  River.  The  Northwest  Com- 
pany had  now  obtained  a  foothold  among  the 
tribes  west  of  the  Rockies,  and  w^ere  moving 
slowly,  yet  surely,  toward  the  great  river.  A 
few  years  would  see  many  log  trading  forts 
upon  its  upper  streams,  and  none  could  doubt 
that  the  ambitious  "  Northwesters "  hoped  at 
last  to  control  the  entire  trade  of  the  Columbia 
valley. 

Mackenzie's       Mackenzie  himself  had  a  plan   by  which  a. 

great  trad-     gji^nrle   compauv,   formed   by   a    union    of   the 

ing  project  o  jt       y  J 

Northwest  and  Hudson's  Bay  companies, 
should  gather  the  fur  harvest  of  half  of  the 
continent.  They  were  to  have  ships  on  both 
oceans  to  trade  along  the  coasts,  and  carry 
away  the  furs  collected  at  two  great  central 
stations  located,  the  one  at  the  mouth  of  Nel- 
son River  (on  Hudson  Bay),  the  other  at  the 
estuary  of  the  Columbia.  By  establishing  posts 
throughout  the  interior  he  expected  this  gi-^nt 
monopoly  to  control  the  trade  from  the  parallel 

from  Canada,  by  Land,  the  twenty  second  of  July,  one  thou- 
sand seven  hundred  and  ninety  three.'' 


RACE    FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR   TRADE        99 

of  45°  to  the  Arctic  Qcean.^  The  reader  may 
smile  at  Mackenzie's  project,  and  set  it  down 
as  the  dream  of  an  enthusiast ;  yet  twenty  years 
later  events  occurred  in  the  history  of  the  fur 
trade  which,  as  we  shall  see,  almost  literally 
fulfilled  these  plans.  Meantime,  however,  others 
aside  from  the  Canadians  became  interested  in 
the  western  fur  trade,  and  in  the  race  which 
now  ensued  an  American,  rather  than  a  British, 
fort  was  planted  at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia. 

In  the  city  of  New  York,  at  that  time  not  John  Jacob 
yet  the  metropolis  of  the  country,  John  Jacob  ^^^^^ 
Astor  ranked  as  a  merchant  prince.  For  twenty- 
five  years  his  ships  had  sailed  the  high  seas, 
visiting  all  the  great  markets  of  Europe,  and 
his  name  was  known  and  honored  in  every 
commercial  center  of  the  world.  Mr.  Astor 
early  began  to  buy  and  sell  furs,  finding  this 
one  of  the  most  profitable  branches  of  trade. 
His  cargoes  were  made  up  largely  in  Montreal, 
the  headquarters  of  the  Northwest  Company, 
where  beaver  skins  were  received  from  hundreds 
of  trading  posts,  planted  upon    lake  and  river 

1  Except  that  portion  of  the  Pacific  coast  on  which  the  Rus- 
sians were  established.  Mackenzie  desired  a  union  of  the  two 
British  companies  partly  on  account  of  the  increased  financial 
strength  that  this  would  give,  and  partly  because  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  had  a  charter  while  the  Northwest  Company  had 
none.  The  Nelson  River  was  the  best  and  shortest  route  from 
the  interior  to  the  Atlantic,  and  the  Columbia  was  "  the  line  of 
communication  from  the  Pacific  pointed  out  by  nature."  (See 
Mackenzie's  Voyages,  London,  1801,  pp.  407  ff.) 


ing  project 


100     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

as  far  west  as  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Being 
a  shrewd  and  quick-witted  man,  Astor  soon 
learned  all  the  details  of  the  business  carried 
on  by  this  company,  not  only  at  Montreal, 
but  through  the  long  stretches  of  wilderness 
as  well. 
Astor's  trad-  When  Lcwis  and  Clark  returned  from  their 
wonderful  journey,  with  information  about  the 
route  to  the  Pacific  and  the  opportunities  for 
trade  along  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  rivers, 
Mr.  Astor  at  once  planned  a  brilliant  trad- 
ing project,  similar  in  many  ways  to  that  of 
Mackenzie.  He  believed  it  would  be  possi- 
ble, with  his  large  capital  and  tested  business 
ability,  to  at  least  gain  control  of  the  trade  over 
a  broad  belt  of  country  stretching  from  the 
Great  Lakes  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  The  first 
point  was  to  push  westward  to  the  Mississippi 
and  Missouri.  For  this  purpose  he  organized 
(1808)  the  American  Fur  Company,  in  which 
Astor  himself  was  the  principal  stockholder. 
He  next  proposed  to  establish  a  central  station, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  for  the  trade  of 
the  region  lying  beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  build  a  line  of  trading  posts  extending 
along  the  route  explored  by  Lewis  and  Clark 
from  the  Pacific  Ocean  to  the  Mississippi.'     He 

^  Astor  had  already  begun  a  trade  along  the  Great  Lakes,  so 
that  practically  the  great  depot  on  the  Pacific  would  be  connected 
with  his  business  office  in  New  York. 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR   TRADE       lOI 

planned  to  send  from  New  York  every  fall  one 
ship  freighted  with  goods  for  the  Indian  trade, 
and  supplies  for  all  the  posts  west  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  On  arriving  in  the  Columbia, 
about  February  or  March,  she  was  to  unload 
this  portion  of  her  cargo  and  sail  along  the 
coast  to  gather  the  sea  otter  and  other  furs 
which  the  natives  had  long  been  accustomed 
to  sell  to  American  shipowners.  This  cruise 
was  to  be  extended  as  far  north  as  Sitka,  for 
the  purpose  of  carrying  supplies  to  the  Russians 
in  exchange  for  their  furs.^  Thereafter  she 
was  to  return  to  the  Columbia.  Meantime, 
in  May  or  June,  the  traders  from  the  interior 
posts  would  have  delivered  at  the  central  sta- 
tion all  the  furs  secured  during  the  preceding 
winter  on  the  rivers  flowing  into  the  Columbia. 
These  were  then  to  be  placed  on  board  the 
vessel,  which  would  sail  to  Canton  during  the 
following  winter.  The  cargo  of  furs  was  to  be 
exchanged  for  an  equally  valuable  cargo  of  silks,^ 
tea,  and  other  Chinese  goods,  with  which  the 
Astor  ship  was  expected  to  return  to  New  York 
after  an  absence  of  about  two  years. 

1  At  Sitka  (New  Archangel)  the  Russian  American  Fur  Com- 
pany collected  furs  from  the  neighboring  islands,  the  Alaskan 
coast,  and  the  interior.  But  they  had  very  poor  facilities  both 
for  marketing  their  product  and  obtaining  necessary  supplies. 
They  were  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  make  arrangements  with 
Mr.  Astor  by  which  their  furs  were  to  be  carried  to  the  Can- 
ton market  and  regular  supplies  brought  to  New  Archangel. 


102      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

He  sends  Sucli  was  the    plan   worked    out    in   all    its 

Toilrio-''  details  by  Mr.  Astor  before  any  part  of  it  was 
lumbia  put  into  Operation.  In  the  summer  of  1810  he 
fitted  out  his  first  ship,  the  Tonquin,  for  the 
voyage  around  Cape  Horn.  She  was  placed  in 
charge  of  Captain  Jonathan  Thorn,  and  left 
New  York  under  the  convoy  of  the  famous 
American  warship  Constitution.  On  board 
the  Tonquin  were  several  of  the  partners  of  the 
Pacific  Fur  Company,  organized  by  Mr.  Astor 
to  carry  out  his  project.  Most  of  these  were 
engaged  in  Canada,  among  the  men  belonging 
to  the  Northwest  Company.  The  clerks,  too, 
were  nearly  all  Canadians.^  The  Tonquin  left 
New  York  on  the  6th  of  September,  18 10, 
rounded  Cape  Horn  in  December,  and  two 
months  later  arrived  at  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 
The  voyage  thus  far  had  been  without  serious 
accident,  but  marred  by  almost  ceaseless  quar- 
reling between  the  captain  and  the  Canadian 
partners.  While  a  good  disciplinarian,  and 
doubtless  a  very  successful  commander  on  a 
ship  of  war,  Captain  Thorn  was  not  well  quali- 
fied to  manage  a  group  of  independent  Scotch 
and  American  fur  traders. 
Arrival  at  When  the  ship  arrived  off  the  mouth  of  the 

the  Colum-  .  ^  .    . 

bia;  Astoria  Columbia,    March    22,     181 1,   new   difficulties 

1  For  a  deliglitful  account  of  the  way  these  Canadians  went 
down  to  New  York,  by  boat,  to  await  the  sailing  of  the  Tonqtdny 
see  Franchere's  Narrative,  New  York,  1854,  pp.  23-25. 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR   TRADE      103 

arose.  The  waves  were  running  high,  and  the 
line  of  breakers  across  the  entrance  to  the 
river  struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  inexperi- 
enced sailors.  Yet  the  captain  sent  out  men 
in  the  ship's  boat  to  sound  the  channel,  a  pro- 
ceeding in  which  seven  of  the  little  company- 
lost  their  lives.  Three  days  passed  before  the 
Tonquin  crossed  the  bar  and  anchored  safe  in 


Astoria. 

As  it  was  in  1813. 


the  river.  Then  the  Astor  party  selected  a  site 
for  their  fort,  and  began  the  erection  of  the 
Pacific  coast  emporium  of  the  fur  trade,  which 
was  appropriately  named  Astoria.  "  Spring, 
usually  so  tardy  in  this  latitude,"  says  Fran- 
chere,  "was  already  well  advanced;  the  foliage 
was  budding,  and  the  earth  was  clothing  itself 
with  verdure.  We  imagined  ourselves  in  the 
garden  of  Eden." 


104      A   HISTORY    OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Fate  of  the  On  the  5th  of  Juiie  the  Tonquin  left  the 
otiquin  j-jygj.  Qj^  i^gj.  northern  cruise  in  search  of  furs.^ 
From  this  voyage  she  never  returned,  nor  did 
a  single  one  of  the  fated  men  who  sailed  in  her 
from  Astoria  live  to  tell  the  gruesome  story 
of  the  Tonqtiins  destruction.  That  awful  tale 
is  known  only  from  the  report  of  a  Gray's  Harbor 
Indian,  who  was  taken  on  board  as  an>  inter- 
preter to  the  northern  tribes,  and  who  escaped 
death  when  the  ship  was  blown  to  atoms,  with 
several  hundred  natives  on  board,  in  the  bay 
of  Clayoquot.  She  had  entered  that  harbor  to 
trade ;  the  Indians  brought  their  furs,  and  for 
some  time  the  deck  was  animated  by  the 
i  varied  scenes  of  peaceful  barter.  Finally,  a 
slight  difficulty  between  the  captain  and  a  lead- 
ing chief  sent  the  visitors  back  to  their  boats 
in  an  angry  state.  Next  day  they  returned, 
pretending  friendship,  and  holding  up  their 
bundles  of  furs  in  token  of  a  desire  to  trade. 
A  number  came  on  board  at  once ;  others  fol- 
lowed, till  the  deck  was  crowded.  At  a  given 
signal  they  drew  their  knives,  till  then  con- 
cealed, and  rushed  upon  the  hapless  crew, 
quickly   killing   all    but    five,    who    had    been 

^  One  of  the  partners,  Mr.  Alexander  Mackay,  was  on  board  as 
chief  trader.  He  was  a  former  Northwest  Company  man,  and 
had  been  the  companion  of  Mackenzie  on  his  famous  journey  to 
the  Pacific  in  1793.  He  was  a  man  of  ability,  very  popular  among 
his  associates;  and  hjs  death  ii>  the  Tonquin  disaster  was  deeply 
lamented. 


RACE    FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR  TRADE      105 

ordered  into  the  rigging  to  unfurl  the  sails. 
These  managed  to  reach  the  cabin,  where  the 
firearms  were  kept,  and  soon  succeeded  in 
clearing  the  ship.  Four  of  them,  remaining 
unhurt,  tried  to  escape  by  boat;  but  when 
they  reached  the  shore  all  were  captured  and 
put  to  death  with  every  refinement  of  torture. 
The  fifth  man  was  badly  wounded  and  preferred 
to  remain  on  board.  Next  day  the  Indians  re- 
turned, apparently  intending  to  loot  the  vessel ; 
but  when  several  hundred  had  clambered  to 
the  deck,  others  still  remaining  about  her  in 
canoes,  a  terrific  explosion  took  place,  and  the 
ship  with  all  on  board  leaped  into  the  air,  a  mass 
of  flaming  ruin.  Perhaps  it  was  the  work  of 
the  man  on  board,  possibly  the  Indians  them- 
selves ignited  the  powder  in  the  magazine ;  at 
all  events  they  had  suffered  such  retribution 
for  the  cruel  massacre  of  the  Tonquins  crew  as 
the  northern  tribesmen  could  not  soon  forget. 

About    the    time    of    the    Tonquiits   arrival  The  over- 
on    the    Pacific    coast    another   detachment  of  ^ifso^n'*^' 
Astors  men  was  preparing  to  cross  the  conti-  Price  Hunt 
nent  by  following  the  trail  of  Lewis  and  Clark. 
This  company  was  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Wilson  Price  Hunt  of  New  Jersey,  an  Ameri- 
can partner,  to  whom  Astor  had  confided  the 
chief  management  of  the  Pacific  department  of 
the  fur  trade.     He  collected  most  of  his  men  in 
Canada,  at   Montreal  and    Mackinac,  carrying 


I06     A   HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

them  to  St.  Louis  in  the  fall  of  1810  in  boats, 
by  way  of  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers,  and 
the  Mississippi.  They  spent  the  winter  in  a 
camp  near  the  frontier  of  settlement  on  the 
Missouri,  and  in  March  began  the  ascent  of  the 
river.^  At  the  Aricara  villages  (near  the  pres- 
ent northern  boundary  of  South  Dakota)  they 
learned  that  the  Blackfoot  Indians  were  hostile, 
and  therefore  decided  to  leave  the  river,  mak- 
ing their  way  overland  with  horses  in  a  south- 
westerly direction,  to  the  Big  Horn  and  Wind 
River  mountains.  They  crossed  these  ranges 
and  entered  the  Green  River  valley.  Passing 
over  the  divide  to  Lewis  River,  they  then  de- 
cided to  abandon  their  horses  and  take  to 
canoes.  This  was  an  unfortunate  error,  for  the 
stream   soon,  contrary  to  appearances,  proved 

1  Bradbury,  an  English  naturalist,  to  whose  "  Travels  in 
America "  we  owe  the  preservation  of  many  of  the  incidents  of 
the  trip  as  far  as  the  Aricara  villages,  tells  us  (p.  i6)  :  "On 
leaving  Charette,  Mr.  Hunt  pointed  out  to  me  an  old  man  stand- 
ing on  the  bank,  who  he  informed  me  was  Daniel  Boone,  the 
discoverer  of  Kentucky.  As  I  had  a  letter  of  introduction  to  him, 
from  his  nephew,  Colonel  Grant,  I  went  ashore  to  speak  to  him. 
...  I  remained  for  some  time  in  conversation  with  him.  He 
informed  me  that  he  was  eighty-four  years  of  age  ;  that  he  had 
spent  a  considerable  portion  of  his  time  alone  in  the  backwoods, 
and  had  lately  returned  from  his  spring  hunt  with  nearly  sixty 
beaver  skins."  Irving,  after  reading  this  statement  of  Bradbury, 
suggested  that  the  veteran  woodsman  probably  felt  a  "  throb  of 
the  old  pioneer  spirit,  impelling  him  to  shoulder  his  rifle  and  join 
the  adventurous  band."  Though  he  failed  to  do  so  in  person, 
his  children  crossed  the  Rockies,  and  we  meet  his  honored  name 
in  both  Oregon  and  California. 


RACE   FOR  COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR   TRADE      107 

itself  a  true  mountain  torrent,  threatening 
destruction  to  both  men  and  boats.  They 
therefore  left  it  (at  the  Cauldron  Linn)  and 
set  out  on  foot,  after  breaking  the  company 
into  smaller  parties  to  make  it  easier  to  find 
game.  The  sufferings  of  these  men,  in  their 
weary  wanderings  over  the  Lewis  River  desert, 
are  more  easily  imagined  than  described,  al- 
though Mr.  Irving,  in  his  classic  history  of  the 
Astoria  enterprise,  has  succeeded  in  giving  us 
some  very  vivid  pictures.  Hunt,  with  a  section 
of  the  party,  reached  the  Grand  Ronde  valley 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  and  on  the  15th  of 
February  arrived  at  Astoria.  Some  had  already 
reached  the  fort ;  others  straggled  in  from  time 
to  time,  till  nearly  all  were  safe. 

Soon  after  this  overland  party  reached  the  ship 
lower  Columbia  Mr.  Astor's  ship,  the  Beaver,  ^^^^^^ 

^  .  arrives 

sent  from  New  York  in  the  fall  of  18 11,  an-  May  10, 
chored  (May  10,  181 2)  in  the  Columbia  River  ^^^^ 
with  a  cargo  similar  in  all  respects  to  that 
carried  by  the  Tonquin  the  year  before.  The 
Astorians  were  greatly  rejoiced.  At  last  they 
had  abundant  supplies,  new  reenforcements  of 
men,  and  every  encouragement  to  carry  the 
trade  far  up  the  rivers  toward  the  sources  of 
the  Columbia.  It  began  to  look  as  if  Astor's 
brilliant  project  might  be  grandly  successful 
after  all,  despite  the  calamities  which  attended 
its  beginnings. 


Io8     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


The  North- 
westers 
lose  the  race. 
David 
Thompson 


( 


In  the  preceding  year,  before  the  fort  had 
been  completed  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  a 
party  of  men  prepared  to  ascend  the  Columbia 
for  exploration  and  trade ;  but  just  as  they 
were  setting  out  (July  15)  a  canoe  floating  the 
British  flag  drew  in  to  the  shore  at  Astoria, 
greatly  to  the  astonishment  of  the  Americans. 
A  gentleman  stepped  ashore,  and  introduced 
himself  as  Mr.  David  Thompson,  geographer  of 
the  Northwest  Company.  He  said  that  he  had 
expected  to  reach  the  mouth  of  the  river  during 
the  preceding  fall,  and  had  actually  wintered 
west  of  the  Rockies,  but  that  owing  to  the 
desertion  of  some  of  his  men  it  was  impossible 
to  carry  out  his  plans.  The  Astorians  be- 
lieved it  was  his  intention  to  plant  a  fort  for  his 
company  near  the  spot  where  their  own  estab- 
lishment was  rising,  and  in  this  they  were  doubt- 
less correct.  We  now  know,  from  Thompson's 
journal  and  other  sources,  that  this  indomitable 
British  "pathfinder"  had  been  on  the  Pacific 
slope  several  times  prior  to  181 1.  In  the  year 
1807  (June  22)  he  reached  a  tributary  of  the 
Columbia  by  crossing  Howse  Pass  in  the 
Rockies,  and  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  May  God  in 
his  mercy  give  me  to  see  where  its  waters  flow 
into  the  ocean  and  return  in  safety."^     In  1809 


^  The  late  Dr.  Elliott  Coues  made  a  study  of  Thompson's 
journals  in  their  manuscript  form,  and  published  generous  quota- 
tions from  them  in  connection  with  tlie  journals  of  Alexander 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA  RIVER  FUR  TRADE      1O9 

he  founded  a  Northwest  Company  fort  at 
Lake  Pend  d'Oreille,  and  another  in  the  Flat- 
head country,  on  Clark's  Fork.  A  still  earlier 
establishment  was  that  on  the  Kootenai,  and 
now  there  was  also  one  on  the  Spokane  River. 
The  Americans  saw  at  once  that  here  was  a 
formidable  rival  for  the  up-river  trade;  but  they 
knew  their  advantage  as  the  occupants  of  the 
lower  Columbia,  and  determined  if  possible 
to  drive  their  Montreal  competitors  across  the 
Rockies. 

The  delayed  party,  under  David  Stuart,  one  Fort 
of  Astor's  partners,  now  set  out  up  the  river,  f^^^^^^^"^ 
accompanied  as  far  as  the  Cascades  by  Thomp-  181 1 
son  on  his  return.  When  Stuart's  party  reached 
the  place  where  the  Columbia  and  Lewis  rivers 
meet  they  found  a  pole  stuck  in  the  ground, 
and  tightly  bound  around  it  a  sheet  of  paper 
containing  the  proclamation :  "  Know  hereby 
that  this  country  is  claimed  by  Great  Britain 
as  part  of  its  territories,  that  the  N.W.  Com- 
pany of  Merchants  from  Canada,  finding  the 
Factory  for  this  people  inconvenient  for  them, 
do  hereby  intend  to  erect  a  factory  in  this 
place  for  the  convenience  of  the  country 
around.  D.  Thompson."  Notwithstanding 
this  announcement,  or  possibly  because  of  it, 
Stuart  passed   right  on   up  the   north  branch 

Henry.  This  gives  us  the  valuable  "  Henry-Thompson  Jour- 
nals," 3  vols.,  New  York,  1897. 


of  trade  in 
1812 


no    A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

to  the  Okanogan  River,  where  he  estabUshed 
the  first  up-river  fort  for  the  Astor  Company, 
and  carried  on  a  successful  winter's  trade.^ 
Expansion  When  the  Beaver  arrived  in  18 12,  with  men 

and  suppHes,  the  Astorians  decided  on  a  great 
forward  movement  to  the  interior.     They  pro- 
\^  posed   to  go  into   the   neighborhood   of   every 

Northwest  post  and  begin  a  rival  establishment. 
Thus  they  planned  a  fort  on  the  Spokane,  with 
branch  trading  houses  on  the  Flathead  (Clark's 
Fork)  and  Kootenai  rivers,  and  another  in 
the  She  Whaps  region.  A  third  venture  was 
to  be  made  on  the  Lewis  River,  while  the 
trade  at  Okanogan  was  to  be  continued.^  The 
Spokane  project  was  in  charge  of  Mr.  Clark, 
David  Stuart  went  back  to  Okanogan,  and  Mr. 
Donald  M'Kenzie  was  sent  up  Lewis  River. 
Both  Clark  and  Stuart,  with  their  clerks  and 
assistants  at  the  branch  stations,  succeeded 
admirably  in   the   trade  of   this  second  winter. 

1  Alexander  Ross,  one  of  the  clerks,  who  spent  most  of  the 
winter  alone  at  Okanogan,  while  Stuart  was  exploring  far  to  the 
north  in  the  She  Whaps  country,  tells  us  in  his  book,  "  The  Fur 
Hunters  of  the  Y-ax  West,"  that  he  bought  fifteen  hundred  beaver, 
worth  in  Canton  twenty-five  hundred  pounds,  for  goods  worth, 
not  to  exceed,  thirty-five  pounds.  This  he  calls  a  "specimen  of 
our  trade  among  the  Indians." 

2  At  the  same  time  Mr.  Robert  Stuart  was  sent  east  with  letters 
for  Mr.  Astor.  His  party  became  bewildered  in  the  upper  Lewis 
River  country,  and  were  forced  to  winter  on  the  plains,  reaching 
St.  Louis  April  30,  1813,  after  being  out  nearly  a  year  from 
Astoria. 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER    FUR   TRADE      III 

M'Kenzie  did  nothing  on  the  Lewis,  and  by 
the  middle  of  January  was  back  a.t  Astoria, 
with  an  alarming  story  which  foreshadowed 
coming  events. 

While   visiting   Spokane   House   about  the  War  news 
close  of  the  year    1812,  so  M'Kenzie  told  the  Z'Zll^^ 
people  at  Astoria,  Mr.  John  George  M'Tavish, 
partner  of  the  Northwest  Company,  had  arrived 
fresh  from  Montreal,  with  news  that  war  had 


Fort  Okanogan. 

broken  out  between  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain,  and  that  the  company  was  ex- 
pecting an  English  warship  to  enter  the  Pacific 
and  capture  Astoria.  At  this  time  the  fort  was 
in  charge  of  Donald  M'Dougal,  a  Canadian  like 
M'Kenzie,  Hunt  having  sailed  away  the  pre- 
ceding summer  in  the  Beaver,  and  being  still 


of  Mr.  Hunt 


112    A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

absent.  These  two  men  weakly  determined  to 
abandon  the  Columbia  the  following  summer 
and  cross  the  mountains;  but  the  other  part- 
ners when  they  came  down  with  their  furs  in 
June  (1813)  vetoed  this  plan,  insisting  on  re- 
maining another  winter  if  possible.  M'Tavish 
descended  the  river  with  his  men,  spent  much 
time  about  Astoria,  and  received  needed  sup- 
plies from  the  Americans,  while  he  waited  for 
the  ship,  which,  as  he  declared,  was  daily 
expected. 
Movements  Mr.  Huut  Sailed  away  in  the  Beaver  on  the 
4th  of  August,  181 2.  He  ran  to  Sitka,  made 
a  successful  trade  with  the  Russians,  and  then 
proceeded  to  the  islands  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  where  he  received  eighty  thousand  seal- 
skins. By  this  time  it  was  winter;  the  vessel 
was  much  damaged,  and  all  haste  had  to  be 
made  to  get  the  valuable  cargo  to  Canton. 
The  Beaver,  therefore,  did  not  stop  at  the  Co- 
lumbia, but  carried  Hunt  to  Hawaii  and  con- 
tinued on  to  China.  Here  the  captain  (Sowles) 
obtained  news  of  the  war,  which  sent  him  into 
A  hiding  with  his  vessel  till  it  was  over.  Hunt 
finally  learned  of  the  war  in  Hawaii  and  came 
to  the  Columbia  in  an  American  ship,  the 
Albatross,  reaching  Astoria  August  4,  18 13, 
after  an  absence  of  exactly  one  year.  He 
learned  that  the  partners  were  resolved  to 
abandon  the  river,  and  while  he  opposed,  he 


Raccoon 
December  12 


RACE   FOR   COLUMBIA   RIVER   FUR    TRADE      113 

could  not  change  the  resolution.  Still,  hoping 
to  save  something,  he  sailed  again  in  the  Alba- 
tross to  seek  a  vessel  which  might  be  available 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  away  the  goods  and 
furs. 

At  last,  on  the  i6th  of  October,  influenced  Astoria  sold, 
by  their  fears  if  not  by  selfish  motives,  the  part-  ^sj^^'t'jf;^ 
ners  sold  Astoria  and  its  belongings,  with  all  by  the 
furs,  supplies,  and  other  property  at  the  interior 
stations  as  well,  to  the  Northwest  Company.  (ori3),i8i3 
One  incident  remains,  and  the  story  of  Astoria 
is  finished.  "  On  the  morning  of  the  30th  " 
[November],  says  Franchere,  "we  saw  a  large 
vessel  standing  in  under  Cape  Disappointment; 
.  .  .  she  was  the  British  sloop-of-war,  Raccoon, 
of  twenty-six  guns,  commanded  by  Captain 
Black,"  .  .  .  The  long-looked-for  British  ship 
had  come,  and  on  the  12th  of  December  (Henry 
says  the  13th)  the  American  flag  was  hauled 
down  at  Astoria  to  make  place  for  the  Union 
Jack.  The  station  itself  was  rechristened  Fort 
George.  More  than  two  months  later  (February 
28,  1 8 14)  Mr.  Hunt  appeared  once  more,  in  the 
brig  Pedlar,  purchased  by  him  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  away  Astor's  property.  He  was  too  late, 
and  sailed  away  again,  first  to  the  north,  then 
down  the  coast  to  California  and  Mexico.^ 

1  Most  of  the  Canadian  partners  of  Mr.  Astor  accepted  posi- 
tions with  the  Northwest  Company,  as  did  also  many  of  the  clerks 
and  laborers.    A  few,  including  Mr.  Gabriel  Franchere,  went  back 


114    A   HISTORY    OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

to  Canada  overland  in  the  spring  of  1814,  with  the  Northwest 
Company's  express.  P>anchere's  "  Narrative,"  and  two  similar 
books,  also  by  clerks  of  the  Astor  Company,  A.  Ross's  "  Fur 
Hunters  of  the  Far  West  "  and  Ross  Cox's  "Adventures  on  the 
Columbia,"  are  the  principal  sources  for  the  history  of  the  Astor 
enterprise.  All  of  these  have  long  been  out  of  print.  The 
"  Henry-Thompson  Journals,"  recently  published,  throw  addi- 
tional light  on  some  phases  of  the  history,  and  Irving's  "  Astoria  " 
contains  some  matter  taken  from  manuscript  sources  not  now 
accessible. 


.  CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  Hudson's  bay  company 

When  Mr.  Hunt  bade  farewell  to  the  Colum-  changes  or 
a  (April  2,  1814),  he  left  the  British  rivals  in  J,^^"  ^°^^"" 
lull  control  not  only  of  the  fort  at  the  mouth  of 
^he  river,  but  of  all  the  avenues  of  trade  be- 
7een  the  Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Pacific, 
om  California  to  Alaska.  A  few  days  later 
leir  first  supply  ship,  the  Isaac  Todd,  entered 
le  river  with  a  cargo  containing  everything 
icessary  for  the  trade  of  the  entire  depart- 
ent.  She  also  brought  additional  men,  and 
ese  added  to  the  list  of  Astoriahs  already 
igaged,  gave  the  Northw^est  Company  a  force 
ifficient  to  occupy  the  country  at  least  as  fully 
;  Astor  had  done.  They,  however,  made  no 
iportant  change  in  the  trade  for  several  years, 
11  Donald  M'Kenzie  established  the  Walla 
/alia  Fort  (18 18),  and  began  to  send  trapping 
irties  along  Lewis  River.  This  greatly  ex- 
uded the  area  covered,  and  increased  the 
'ofits  in  a  marked  degree. 

In  182 1  a  noteworthy  change  occurred  in  the  Union  of 
r  trade  of  the  British  dominions.     The  Hud-  ^^^  ^"^^^^ 

fur  com- 

)n's    Bay   and    Northwest   companies,    whose  panics,  182. 
"5 


Il6     A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

agents  had  long  been  destroying  each  other  in 
their  bitter  contest  for  the  possession  of  the 
northern  forests,  were  now  united  under  the 
name  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.^  The 
dream  of  Alexander  Mackenzie  had  been  real- 
ized. From  Montreal  to  Fort  George,  from  St. 
James,  near  the  head  of  Fraser  River,  to  the 
Arctic  Ocean  and  Hudson  Bay,  the  wilderness 


Fort  Walla  Walla. 

traffic  was  at  last  organized  under  a  single 
management,  and  carried  on  absolutely  without 
competition  except  where  the  British  came  in 
contact  with  Americans  or  Russians.  York 
Factory  on  Hudson  Bay  was  the  eastern  em- 
porium, and    the  residence  of   the   company's 

^  In  1816  actual  war  broke  out  in  the  Red  River  valley,  where 
Lord  Selkirk  had  established  a  colony  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, across  the  path  of  the  Northwesters.  The  union  was  brought 
about  by  the  interference  of  governmeni  -officials. 


THE   HUDSON^S    BAY    COMPANY  117 

governor,  Sir  George  Simpson.  Fort  George, 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,  was  to  be  the 
western  emporium. 

In   1824  Dr.  John   McLoughlin  arrived  on  Dr. 
the  Columbia  to  take  charge  of  the  western  ^^-i^^'^^^^f 
department.     One   of    his    first   steps   was    to  Vancouver, 
abandon    Fort  George    and    to    establish    new  ^  ^^~^  ^^ 
headquarters  at  Point 
Vancouver.^       Here 
was  an  ideal  location 
for  a  trading  center. 
The  Willamette,  en- 
tering the   Columbia 
a  short   distance   be- 
low, had  its  sources 
nearly    two    hundred 
miles    to    the    south ; 
the    Cowlitz    opened 
an    avenue  for  trade 
toward  Pugjet  Sound ; 

,  .,      r  1        ^    1  ^^-  John  McLoughlin,  1824. 

while  tor  the  Colum- 
bia itself,  breaking  through  the  Cascades  a 
few  miles  above  Vancouver,  the  site  was  the 
best  that  could  be  found.  On  a  fine  prairie 
about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  river, 
McLoughlin  built  the  first  Fort  Vancouver, 
and  occupied  it  in  1825.  Four  years  later 
another   establishment  was    built  on  the   low 

1  The  point  reached  and  so  named  by  Broughton  hi  October, 
1792. 


Il8      A   HISTORY  OF  THE  PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

ground  near  the  river  bank.  It  was  simply 
a  stockade  made  of  posts  about  twenty  feet 
in  length,  inclosing  a  rectangular  space  thirty- 
seven  rods  long  by  eighteen  rods  in  width, 
which  contained  all  the  principal  buildings,  in- 
cluding Dr.  McLoughlin's  residence.  The  ser- 
vants of  the  company,  with  their  Indian  families 


and  friends,  lived  just  outside,  where  in  course 
of  time  a  considerable  village  grew  up.  Such 
was  the  famous  Fort  Vancouver,  round  which 
clusters  so  much  of  the  romance,  as  well  as 
the  more  sober  history,  of  early  Oregon.^     Dr. 

^A  fascinating  picture  of  life  at  this  western  emporium  of  the 
flir  trade  is  given  by  Mrs.  Eva  Emery  Dye  in  her  "  McLoughlin 
and  Old  Oregon." 


THE    HUDSON'S    BAY   COMPANY  119 

McLoughlin  remained  in  charge  of  the  estab- 
Hshment  for  twenty-two  years,  managing  the 
company's  business  with  rare  success ;  and  by 
his  firm  control  over  the  Indians  of  the  entire 
Oregon  country,  his  kindness  and  hospitahty 
to  American  traders,  missionaries,  adventurers 
and  colonists,  richly  deserving  the  title,  "  Father 
of  Oregon,"  bestowed  upon  him  by  the  pioneers. 

Vancouver  was  the  clearing  house  for  all  the  The  fur 
business  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  Here  Vancouver 
the  annual  ships  from  London  landed  supplies 
and  merchandise,  which  were  placed  in  ware- 
houses to  await  the  departure  of  the  boatbrt— 
gades  for  the  interior ;  here  was  the  great  fur 
House,  where  the  peltries  were  brought  together 
from  scores  of  smaller  forts  and  trading  camps, 
scattered  through  a  wilderness  empire  of  half 
a  million  square  miles.  They  came  from  St. 
James,  Langley,  and  Kamloops  in  the  far  north- 
west ;  from  Umpqua  in  the  south ;  from  Walla 
Walla,  Colville,  Spokane,  Okanogan,  and  many 
other  places  in  the  upper  portions  of  the  great 
valley.  Hundreds  of  trappers  followed  the 
water  courses  through  the  gloomy  forests  and 
into  the  most  dangerous  fastnesses  of  the 
mountains,  in  order  to  glean  the  annual  beaver 
crop  for  delivery  to  these  substations.  We  do 
not  know  precisely  what  the  total  business 
amounted  to;  but  in  1828  a  visitor  to  Vancou- 
ver (Jedediah  Smith)  learned  that  McLoughlin 


120     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Agriculture 
and  other 
business 


had  received  during  the  year  thirty  thousand 
beaver  skins,  worth  two  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  besides  a  large  quantity  of  other 
furs. 

Aside  from  the  fur  trade,  which  was  the 
principal  business,  Vancouver  was  also  the  cen- 
ter of  other  activities.     By  1828  a  fine  farm  had 


Fort  Vancouver. 


been  opened  on  the  prairie  about  the  fort,  and 
fields  of  wheat,  oats,  corn,  peas,  and  barley 
flourished  in  the  rich  soil  of  this  favored  local- 
ity. As  the  years  passed,  more  and  more  land 
was  brought  under  cultivation,  until  the  farm 
aggregated  several  thousand  acres,  "  fenced  into 
beautiful  corn  fields,  vegetable  fields,  orchards, 
gardens,  and  pasture  fields,  .  .  .  interspersed 
with  dairy  houses,  shepherds'  and  herdsmen's 


THE   HUDSON'S   BAY   COMPANY  121 

cottages."  ^  In  1 8 14  the  Isaac  Todd  brought  to 
the  Columbia  from  California  four  head  of 
Spanish  cattle ;  the  Astor  people  already  had 
a  few  hogs,  obtained  from  the  Hawaiian  Is-  Y 
lands,  and  also  several  goats.  These  were  the 
beginnings  of  the  live  stock  interest  of  the 
Northwest.  In  1828  the  Vancouver  pastures 
fed  about  two  hundred  cattle,  fourteen  goats, 
and  fifty  horses ;  while  ranging  the  surround- 
ing woodlands  were  about  three  hundred  swine. 
The  numbers  of  all  kinds  of  animals  increased 
with  surprising  rapidity.  At  first  it  had  been 
the  intention  merely  to  raise  grain  and  vege- 
tables for  the  use  of  the  establishment  itself; 
but  in  course  of  time  a  large  amount  of  wheat 
was  sold  to  the  Russians,  and  to  American 
whalers  in  need  of  supplies.  There  was  a  flour 
mill  at  the  fort,  and  on  a  neighboring  stream 
a  large  sawmill,  which  not  only  produced  lum- 
ber for  home  use,  but  also  an  occasional  cargo 
for  shipment  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands.  The 
fort  had  its  mechanics,  representing  all  the 
ordinary  trades,  —  smiths,  carpenters,  tinners, 
coopers,  and  even  a  baker.  Several  coasting 
vessels  had  been  built  by  the  carpenters  prior 
to  1828. 

Although  business  was  the  first  consideration 
at  Vancouver,  and  Dr.  McLoughlin  tolerated 

^  Quoted  from  Dunn,  ^'  The  Oregon  Territory  and  the  British 
North  American  Fur  Trade,"  Philadelphia,  1845,  P-  ^^1- 


122      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

no  idlers,  yet,  on  the  whole,  life  was  pleasant 
there.  The  officers  were  nearly  all  well-edu- 
cated gentlemen,  who  enjoyed  good  living, 
books,  and  agreeable  company.  Their  dining 
hall  at  Vancouver  was  not  merely  a  place  where 
the  tables  were  supplied  with  good  food,  but 
the  scene  of  bright,  intelligent  conversation, 
conducted  with  perfect  propriety,  and  pleasing 
to  the  most  refined  guests.  The  wives  of  the 
officers  were  usually  half-caste  women,  yet  in 
many  cases  they  are  said  to  have  been  excellent 
housekeepers  and  good  mothers.  They  and 
their  children  did  not  eat  with  the  men,  but 
had  tables  in  a  separate  hall.  In  other  respects 
home  life  was  much  as  it  is  in  ordinary  com- 
munities. The  children  spent  most  of  the 
summer  season  out  of  doors,  engaging  in  all 
manner  of  sports,  and  gaining  special  skill  in 
horsemanship.  In  the  winter  a  school  was  often 
maintained  at  the  fort.^  Religious  services  were 
conducted  on  the  Sabbath,  either  by  McLough- 
lin  himself  or  by  some  visiting  missionary  or 
priest.  The  village  had  its  balls,  regattas,  and 
other  amusements,  rendering  it  a  place  of  much 
gayety,  especially  about  June,  when  the  brigades 
of  boats  arrived  with  the  up-river  traders,  and 

^  John  Ball,  a  New  England  man  who  came  with  Wyeth  in 

1832,  taught  the  first  school  at  Vancouver  in  the  winter  of  1832- 

1833.  He  raised  a  crop  of  wheat  in  the  Willamette  valley  in  the 
summer  of  1833. 


THE    HUDSON'S    BAY   COMPANY  123 

their  crews  of  jovial,  picturesque  French  voya- 
geurs. 

Fort  Vancouver  dominated  the  fur  trade  of  Ti^e  mo- 
Oregon  almost  as  completely  as  if  the  country  3hmis  of 
had  actually  been  J:he  private  property  of  the  the  Hud- 
Hudson's    Bay    Company.      When    American  company 
traders    began    to  enter   the   Columbia  valley,  y 

they  soon  found    themselves    at  the  mercy  of  ^ 

this  great  monopoly  which  controlled  the 
Indian  tribes,  possessed  unlimited  capital,  and 
could  afford  to  raise  the  price  of  beaver  skins 
to  ten  times  their  ordinary  value  in  -order  to 
drive  out  a  competitor.  While  McLoughlin 
treated  all  strangers  well  and  even  generously 
at  Fort  Vancouver,  he  permitted  no  interfer- 
ence with  the  trade,  which  his  strong  position 
in  the  country  enabled  him  to  control.  We 
must  now  inquire  by  what  right  these  British 
subjects  had  come  into  possession  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest,  and  how  their  presence  affected  the 
rights  and  interests  already  secured  in  this 
country  by  the  people  of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER    IX 

THE    OREGON    QUESTION 

How  the  The  war  that  ruined  Aster's  trading  project 

Oregon         ^^g  closed  bv  the  treaty  of  Ghent  in  Decem- 

question  -^  •' 

arose,  1817  ber,  1814.  The  govemments  of  Great  Britain 
and  the  United  States  agreed  that  "  All  terri- 
tory, places,  and  possessions  whatsoever,  taken 
by  either  party  from  the  other  during  the  war, . . . 
[should]  be  restored  without  delay.  .  .  ."  Mr. 
Astor  seems  to  have  thought  that  since  his  fort 
on  the  Columbia  had  been  taken  possession  of 
by  a  British  warship,  the  Northwest  Company 
ought  now  to  give  it  up,  together  with  the  sur- 
rounding country.  He  was  not  yet  prepared 
to  abandon  an  enterprise  which  had  so  deeply 
excited  his  interest,  and  he  urged  the  United 
States  government  to  secure  the  restoration  of 
Astoria.  In  July,  i8 15,  six  months  after  the  close 
of  the  war,  the  American  Secretary  of  State 
gave  notice  to  the  British  government  that 
the  Columbia  would  be  reoccupied  under  the 
treaty;  and  two  years  later  (September,  18 17) 
our  government  ordered  Captain  Biddle  (ship 
Ontario)  to  go  to  Astoria  and  "  assert  the  claim 
of  the  United  States  to  the  [Oregon]  country  iii 

124 


THE   OREGON   QUESTION  1 25 

a  friendly  and  peaceable  manner.  .  .  ."  When 
the  British  minister  at  Washington,  Mr.  Bagot, 
learned  of  this  last  act,  he  entered  a  protest, 
declaring  that  Astoria  was  not  one  of  the 
"  places  and  possessions "  referred  to  in  the 
treaty,  since  the  fort  had  been  purchased  by 
British  subjects  before  the  Raccoon  entered 
the  river.  Nor  was  the  Columbia  valley  "  ter- 
ritory .  .  .  taken  .  .  .  during  the  war,"  but 
a  region  "  early  taken  possession  of  in  his  y 
Majesty's  name,  and  .  .  .  considered  as  forming  • 
part  of  his  Majesty's  dominions."^  Here  was 
a  sharp  conflict  of  claims  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  which  required  twenty- 
nine  years  to  settle,  and  is  known  in  history  as 
the  Oregon  question. 

The  first  point  to  be  agreed  upon  was  as  to  Formal 
which  nation  had  the  right  to  occupy  the  coun-  ^f'thr'°" 
try  at  the  time,  setting  aside  the  greater  ques-  country, 
tion   of   the    final    right  of    ownership.     Here,  fgts^^"^  ^' 
certainly,  the  Americans  had    the   advantage; 
for  although  Broughton  may  have  taken  formal 
possession  in  October,  1792,  nothing  had  been 
done    by   the    British    government    or    people 
between  that  date  and  the  year  181 1   to  make 
good  their  claim  to  the  lower  Columbia.     On 
the  other  hand,  the  American  trader,  Gray,  had 

^  It  was  claimed  that  Lieutenant  Broughton  took  formal  pos- 
session of  the  Columbia  country  when  he  entered  the  river  in 
October,  1792. 


126      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

shown  Broughton  the  way  into  the  river ;  Lewis 
and  Clark  had  explored  from  its  fountains  to 
the  sea ;  and  Astor  had  taken  and  held  posses- 
sion till  the  events  of  the  war  forced  him  to 
retire.  Whatever  rights  Great  Britain  may 
have  gained  as  a  result  of  explorations  north 
of  the  Columbia,  the  planting  of  forts  on  tribu- 
taries of  this  river,  or  the  mapping  of  the  coast 
north  and  south  of  the  estuary,  the  plain  fact 
remained  that  Americans  had  been  in  posses- 
sion of  the  territory  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
when  the  war  came,  and  therefore  they  ought 
to  be  in  possession  after  its  close.  The  British 
government  admitted  the  force  of  these  argu- 
ments, and  on  the  6th  of  October,  1818,  their 
agents  at  Fort  George  allowed  Mr.  J.  B. 
Prevost  to  run  up  the  American  flag.^  This 
was  the  formal  restoration  of  the  territory  to 
the  United  States,  and  meant  that  Americans 
were  now  at  liberty  to  occupy  it  if  they  chose 
to  do  so. 
First  treaty  Two  wccks  later,  Octobcr  20,  1818,  dip- 
"^^^"^'"V        lomatic   representatives   of   the   two  countries 

occupation,  ^ 

October   20, 

1818 

1  Prevost  had  been  appointed  joint  commissioner  with  Biddle, 

and  sailed  with  him  on  the  Ontario  to  Valparaiso.  Thence 
Biddle  proceeded  to  the  Columbia  and  took  formal  possession  of 
the  countrj,  Aug.  9,  181 8,  though  no  British  officer  there  had  in- 
structions to  hand  over  the  fort.  Meantime,  however,  Prevost 
learned  that  such  instructions  had  been  issued,  and,  being  invited 
by  a  British  naval  officer  to  accompany  him  northward,  he  sailed 
to  the  Columbia  and  received  possession. 


THE  OREGON  QUESTION  1 27 

concluded  a  treaty  In  which  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion was  mentioned.  At  that  time  there  was 
no  dividing  line  between  the  territories  of 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  west  of 
the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  and  it  was  agreed  to 
take  the  49th  parallel  as  the  boundary  from 
this  point  to  the  crest  of  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
The  British  diplomats  wished  to  establish  a 
boundary  west  of  the  Rockies  as  well,  where- 
upon the  Americans  offered  to  extend  the  line 
of  49°  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  the  other 
party  declined,  thinking  that  it  would  not  give 
Great  Britain  all  the  territory  she  could  reason- 
ably claim,  and  indicating  that  they  thought  the 
Columbia  River  should  form  the  dividing  line 
from  the  point  where  the  49th  parallel  crossed  its 
easternmost  branch  to  the  sea.  The  American 
government  was  not  willing  at  this  time  to 
press  its  claim,  and  so  we  accepted  a  provision 
for  the  "  joint  occupation  "  of  the  Oregon  coun- 
try for  a  term  of  ten  yeajji^This  meant  simply 
that  Englishmen  and  i^^^Bcans  had  an  equal 
right  to  trade  and  settle  m  every  part  of  the 
country ;  but  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  . 
could  have  absolute  control  over  any  part  of  V 
it  till  the  question  of  ownership  should  be  de- 
termined. The  treaty  also  guarded  the  rights 
of  other  nations.^     It  is  well  to  remember  that 

^At  this  time  neither  Spain  nor  Russia  had  formally  given 
up  their  claims  to  territory  in  the  Oregon  country.     In    1819, 


128      A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

in  this  first  diplomatic  discussion  over  Oregon, 

the  United  States  was  willing  to  accept  the  49th 

parallel  as  a  boundary,  while  Great  Britain  would 

probably  have  been  satisfied  with  the  Columbia. 

i-ackof  On  many  accounts  it  seems  very  unfortunate 

trj'oregon    ^^^'^^  ^^^^  qucstiou  could  uot  havc  been  settled 

country.        in   1818  by  dividing  the  country  on  the  49th 

Brvant  and  n    t  i  ri  i 

Keiiey  parallel    as    was    done    arter    so    much    wran- 

gling twenty-^ight  years  later.  Possibly  a  little 
greater  deterrrjination  on  the  part  of  our  gov- 
ernment might  have  brought  this  about,  and 
saved  us  the  long  quarrel  with  Great  Britain. 
But  the  fact  is  that  very  few  people  were 
then  giving  the  slightest  thought  to  the  far- 
off  region  beyond  the  Rockies.  Bryant  wrote 
of  it  in  181 7  as, — 

"  The  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon  and  hears  no  sound 
Save  his  own  dashings."  ^ 


however,  when  Florida  was  purchased  by  the  United  States, 
Spain  yielded  to  our  goveju^^fit  all  her  rights  north  of  the  42d 
parallel  of  latitude,  so  th^^^Bever  rights  she  may  once  have 
had  in  the  Oregon  count^^Wnceforth  belonged  to  the  United 
States.  Five  years  later  an  agreement  was  made  between  the 
United  States  and  Russia  by  which  the  two  nations  established 
the  line  of  54°  40'  as  a  boundary  for  trading  purposes.  Thus  the 
question  of  the  ownership  of  the  Oregon  country  was  left  to  be 
worked  out  between  the  peonle  of  the  United  States  and  the 
government  of  Great  Britain.^ 

1  Because  of  the  popularity  of  the  poem  "  Thanatopsis,"  in 
which  the  lines  appeared,  the  nrnne  "Oregon"  was  brought  promi- 
nently before  the  country.  Bryant  obtained  the  word  from 
Carver^s  Travels. 


THE   OREGON   QUESTION  1 29 

Only  one  person  seems  to  have  been  fully 
alive  to  the  fact  that  we  had  rights  there  which 
ought  to  be  carefully  looked  after.  This  was 
an  eccentric  Boston  schoolmaster  named  Hall  ■. 
J.  Kelley,  who  began  now  to  agitate  the  Oregon 
question. 

It  may  be  that  some  of  Kelley 's  pamphlets  or  John  Floyd 
letters  reached  men  connected  with  the  United  Jhe  oreTon 
States  government.     At  all  events,  on  the  20th  question  in 
of  December,  1820,  a  young  Virginian  by  the  oecfmber 
name  of  John  Floyd  brought  the  question  for-  20, 1820 
ward  for  the  first  time  in  the  Congress  of  the 
United   States.       He  wished  "to  inquire  into 
^he  situation  of  the  settlements  on  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  and   the  expediency  of  occupying  the 
Columbia  River."     In  January,  182 1,  he  made 
a  report  on  the  subject  of  our  rights  west  of 
the  Rockies,  and  a  little  later  presented  a  bill 

(for  planting  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the    Co- 
lumbia, and  for  granting  lands  to  settlers. 

It  was  many  months  before  Floyd  was  able  The  first 
to  g^et  a  hearinQ^;  but  in' 1822  he  brous^ht  in  ^°"g^^^- 

00'  o  sional  de- 

another  bill    which  aroused  much   interest  in  bate  on 
Congress  and  drew  the  attention  of  the  country  pJoy,^,"  ' 
,  to  the  Oregon  question.     In  the  debate  which  speech 
occurred  Floyd  took  the  leading  part.     He  was 
one  of  those  men  who  have  the  power  of  look- 
ing beyond  the  present,  and  seeing  in  imagi- 
nation   the  changes    likely  to  occur  in    future 
years.       Though   he    lived   in   Virginia,  Floyd 


130     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

knew  what  was  going  on  beyond  the  moun- 
tains, and  was  thrilled  by  the  spectacle  of 
America's  wonderful  growth,  which  he  believed 
to  be  due  largely  to  her  free  system  of  govern- 
ment. In  the  space  of  forty-three  years,  he 
said,  Virginia's  population  had  spread  westward 
more  than  a  thousand  miles.  He  evidently 
believed  it  would  not  be  long  before  Americans 
would  reach  the  Rockies,  and  stand  ready  to 
descend  into  the  Oregon  country.  This  was  a 
new  thought,  just  beginning  to  take  hold  of 
the  American  people,  and  as  yet  quite  startling 
to  most  men  who,  in  spite  of  what  had  already 
been  done,  found  it  difficult  to  conceive  of  the 
American  population  actually  expanding  till  it 
should  reach  the  Pacific.  But  he  only  hinted 
at  these  things,  knowing  very  well  that  most 
members  of  Congress  would  regard  predictions 
of  this  kind  as  the  merest  folly.  Floyd's  main 
argument  had  to  do  with  the  importance  of  the 
Columbia  River  to  American  commerce.  Our 
people  ought  to  have  the  benefit  of  the  fur 
trade  now  going  to  British  subjects ;  many 
whalers  from  New  England  annually  visited 
the  Oregon  coast  and  needed  some  safe  port  in 
which  to  refit  and  take  supplies  ;  the  trade  with 
China  would  be  greatly  advanced  by  maintain- 
ing a  colony  on  the  Pacific.  He  tried  to  show 
that  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  together  would 
form  a  good  highway  for  commerce  across  the 


THE   OREGON   QUESTION  I31 

continent,  and  that  the  entire  distance  between 
St.  Louis  and  Astoria  could  be  traversed  with 
steamboat  and  wagon  in  the  space  of  forty-four 
days. 

Other  speakers  also  urged  the  commercial  Mr.  BaiUes's 
importance  of  a  fort  at  the  mouth  of  the  Co-  ^^^^^^^l^^l 
lumbia.  Mr.  Bailies  of  Massachusetts  declared 
that  in  all  probability  there  would  one  day  be 
a  canal  connecting  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific 
oceans,  which  would  be  an  added  reason  for 
maintaining  a  colony  on  the  Pacific.  Most 
persons  feared  that  Americans  going  to  this 
distant  land  would  separate  from  us  and  set  up 
a  government  for  themselves ;  but  Mr.  Bailies  / 
pointed  out  that  such  a  canal  would  bind  them 
closely  to  us.  Yet,  if  they  should  form  an 
independent  American  state  on  the  Pacific, 
even  this  would  be  better  than  to  have  that 
region  pass  into  the  hands  of  foreigners,  or  be 
left  a  savage  wilderness.  "  I  would  delight," 
said  the  speaker,  "to  know  that  in  this  desolate 
spot,  where  the  prowling  cannibal  now  lurks 
in  the  forest,  hung  round  with  human  bones 
and  with  human  scalps,  the  temples  of  justice 
and  the  temples  of  God  were  reared,  and  man 
made  sensible  of  the  beneficent  intentions  of 
his  creator."  The  country,  he  said,  had  made 
marvelous  progress  within  the  memories  of 
living  men,  and  with  the  fervor  of  an  ancient 
prophet    he    continued :    "  Some    now    within 


132      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

these  walls  may,  before  they  die,  witness  scenes 
more  wonderful  ^than  these ;  and  in  after  times 
may  cherish  delightful  recollections  of  this  day, 
when  America,  almost  shrinking  from  the 
'  shadows  of  coming  events,'  first  placed  her 
feet  upon  untrodden  ground,  scarcely  daring  to 
anticipate  the  greatness  which  awaited  her." 
To  show  how  the  hard-headed,  practical  men 
comprising  the  majority  in  Congress  treated 
such  idealists  as  Floyd  and  Bailies,  we  have 
only  to  turn  to  the  opposition  speech  of  Mr. 
Tracy  of  New  York.  He  declared  that  there 
was  no  real  demand  for  a  fort  and  colony  on 
the  Columbia.  No  one  had  shown  that  it 
would  benefit  commerce.  It  was  visionary  to 
expect  an  overland  commercial  connection  with 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Military  posts  ought  not 
to  be  used  to  draw  population  far  away  into 
the  wilderness,  but  merely  to  protect  the  fron- 
tier. Mr.  Tracy  had  received  accurate  infor- 
mation about  the  territory  along  the  Columbia, 
from  men  who  had  visited  that  region,  and  was 
sure  that  its  agricultural  possibilities  had  been 
greatly  overestimated.  As  a  final  argument, 
he  declared  that  the  people  on  the  Pacific  and 
those  on  the  Atlantic  could  never  live  under 
the  same  government.  "  Nature,"  said  Mr. 
Tracy,  "has  fixed  limits  for  our  nation;  she 
has  kindly  interposed  as  our  western  barrier 
mountains    almost    inaccessible,    whose     base 


THE    OREGON    QUESTION  1 33 

she    has   skirted  with   irreclaimable  deserts  of 
sand." ' 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1823,  after  a  long  and  Defeat  of 
vigorous  debate,  Floyd's  bill  came  to  a  vote  in  ^^""y^'^  ^'^^ 
the  House  of  Representatives  and  was  defeated, 
one  hundred  to  sixty-one.  The  time  had  not 
yet  come  for  an  American  colony  on  the  Pa- 
cific, because  the  government  was  unwilling  to 
plant  such  a  settlement,  and  the  people  were 
not  yet  thinking  of  Oregon  as  a  "  pioneer  s  land 
of  promise."  Only  a  few  men,  and  those  of 
the  rarer  sort,  looked  forward  to  the  occupation 
of  the  Columbia  region  as  a  step  toward  the 
establishment  of  a  greater  America,  with  a 
frontage  on  the  Pacific  Ocean  similar  to  that 
which  we  then  had  upon  the  Atlantic.^ 

We   must   now  turn   from  Congress,  where  Diplomatic 
Oregon  bills  were  brought  up  nearly  every  ses- 

1  From  the  time  of  Long's  exploring  expedition  to  the  Rocky 
Mountains  (i 8 19),  the  western  portion  of  the  Great  Plains  was 
called  the  "  Great  American  Desert." 

2  Strangely  enough  none  of  the  speakers  in  the  House  seemed 
to  suspect  that  we  might  not  have  a  right,  under  the  treaty  of 
joint  occupation,  to  plant  a  military  colony  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia,  or  that  Great  Britain  had  an  actual  claim  to  the  coun- 
try which  was  protected  by  that  treaty. 

Only  one  man  appeared  to  understand  the  situation  clearly, 
Senator  Benton  of  Missouri.  He  believed  that  if  the  British  re- 
mained in  sole  possession  of  Oregon  till  1828,  the  year  that  the 
treaty  of  joint  occupation  was  to  expire,  they  would  remain  for  a 
still  longer  period  ;  and  in  a  speech  in  the  Senate  he  favored  an 
American  colony  on  the  Columbia  as  a  means  of  maintaining  our 
rights  in  the  country. 


134     A  HISTORY  OF   THE  PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

sion  till  the  end  of  1827,  but  always  in  vain,  to 
see  what  was  being  done  for  Oregon  elsewhere. 
The  discussion  of  1822-1823  had  brought  the 
matter  home  to  the  people  and  the  govern- 
ment in  such  a  way  that  statesmen  began  to 
see  the  importance  of  settling  the  question. 
An  attempt  was  made  in  the  year  1824,  but  it 
failed.  Great  Britain  claimed  a  right  for  her 
people  to  trade  and  make  settlements  in  any 
part  of  the  Oregon  country,  admitting  that  our 
citizens  had  the  same,  but  no  greater  right. 
Our  government,  through  Secretary  of  State,  J. 
Q.  Adams,  claimed  that  we  had  a  clear  title  to 
territory  on  the  Pacific  as  high  up  as  5 1  °,  but  w^e 
were  willing  once  more,  as  in  1818,  to  take  the 
49th  parallel.  This  first  negotiation  was  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Richard  Rush.  Two  years 
later  the  government  sent  over  its  most  accom- 
plished diplomat,  Albert  Gallatin.  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  at  that  time  President  of  the  United 
States,  and  Henry  Clay  Secretary  of  State.  It 
was  these  three  men  who,  under  Gallatin's  skill- 
ful leadership,  had  secured  the  favorable  treaty 
of  peace  with  Great  Britain  in  18 14.  Now 
they  were  all  working  together  once  more, 
though  in  a  different  way,  trying  to  obtain 
treaties  which  should  settle  several  important 
commercial  questions,  as  well  as  the  Oregon 
boundary.  Gallatin  spent  more  than  a  year  in 
London,  had  many  long  discussions  with  the 


THE   OREGON    QUESTION  1 35 

British  diplomats,  and  secured  four  separate 
treaties,  one  of  which,  agreed  upon  August 
6th,  1827,  referred  to  the  Oregon  question 
but  did  not  settle  it. 

Gallatin,  like  Rush,  offered  to  extend  the  Gallatin's 
49th  parallel  to  the  Pacific  as  the  boundary,  [^g^^Jo^aWe 
JDUt  Great  Britain  insisted  on  her  right  to  cause 
the  territory  west  and  north  of  the  Columbia, 
and  no  compromise  could  be  reached.  Her 
representatives  entered  upon  long  arguments  to 
show  that  their  government  had  rights  below 
the  49th  parallel.  They  denied  that  Gray's 
discovery  of  the  river,  or  even  Lewis  and 
Clark's  exploration,  gave  Americans  an  ex- 
clusive right  to  the  Columbia  valley ;  and 
they  properly  laid  great  stress  upon  the  explo- 
rations which  British  navigators  like  Cook  and 
Vancouver  had  made  along  the  coast  north  of 
the  river.  But  while  these  arguments  had  a 
measure  of  justice  in  them,  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  Great  Britain  was  simply  deter- 
mined upon  delay  in  settling  the  question. 
Her  subjects  had  expended  large  sums  of 
money  to  develop  the  trade  of  that  country; 
they  were  in  control,  gathering  their  annual 
cargoes  of  furs,  and  the  government  was  natu- 
rally anxious  to  protect  their  interests.  Our 
people  had  created  no  property  rights  in  Ore- 
gon since  Astor's  time ;  very  few  had  ever  set 
foot  west  of  the  Rockies,  and  it  would  probably 


136     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

be  many  years  before  they  would  be  prepared  to 
settle  in  the  country.  Meantime  the  British 
fur  traders  might  as  well  continue  to  profit  from 
their  advantages.  But  once  let  Americans 
rather  than  Englishmen  come  into  practical 
control  of  the  Columbia  valley,  and  the  British 
government  would  soon  be  ready  to  settle  the 
question.  Gallatin  knew  this,  and  so  did  Presi- 
dent Adams.  They  were  therefore  the  less 
unwilling  to  accept  a  simple  renewal  of  "joint 
occupation  "  for  an  indefinite  time.  America 
must  wait  for  the  full  establishment  of  her 
rights  in  Oregon  upon  the  movements  of  the 
American  pioneers. 


i 

i 


I 


CHAPTER  X 

PIONEERS    OF    THE    PIONEERS 


We  have  seen  that  in  1800  the  region  west  of  The  west 
the  Alleghanies  had  a  population  of  about  three  ^^^"^^  ^^^° 
hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand.  Twenty 
years  later,  when  Mr.  Floyd  and  a  few  others 
began  to  dream  about  expansion  to  the  Pacific, 
the  West  already  contained  more  than  two 
million  people,  nearly  one  tenth  of  whom  (two 
hundred  thousand)  were  living  beyond  the 
Mississippi.  The  country  had  entered  upon  a 
period  of  marvelous  growth.  Many  thousands 
of  emigrants  were  crossing  the  mountains  each 
year,  forests  were  leveled  as  if  by  a  sort  of 
magic,  and  a  single  season  often  saw  great 
stretches  of  wild  prairie  transformed  into  fields 
of  wheat  and  corn.  In  such  pioneer  states  as 
Indiana  and  Illinois  the  wild  game  was  rapidly 
disappearing  from  the  river  valleys  as  new 
settlers  entered  to  make  clearings  and  build 
homes.  Many  of  the  rude  hamlets  of  twenty 
years  before  had  given  place  to  progressive  and 
wealthy  towns,  thriving  upon  the  business  of 
the  growing  communities  about  them.  Louis- 
ville, Cincinnati,  New  Orleans,  and    St.  Louis 

137 


138     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


The  Ameri- 
can fur 
trade  of  the 
far  west  ^ 


had  already  become  places  of  note,  and  con- 
trolled the  commerce  of  the  West  much  as 
New  York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore 
dominated  the  eastern  section  of  the  United 
States.  The  western  rivers  were  alive  with 
noisy  little  steamboats,  one  of  which  had  re- 
cently ascended  the  Missouri  to  the  mouth  of 
Platte  River.^  Roads  were  being  opened  every- 
where, and  the  Erie  Canal  was  under  construc- 
tion from  the  Pludson  River  to  Lake  Erie. 
The  frontier  of  settlement  was  in  the  western 
part  of  Missouri,  whence  a  trail  had  already 
been  opened  to  Santa  Fe,  while  others  led  far 
into  the  great  plains  toward  the  west  and 
northwest. 

Beyond  the  frontiers  the  trapper  hunted 
the  beaver  streams,  and  the  trader  carried  his 
tempting  wares  to  the  Indian  villages,  much  as 
they  had  done  twenty,  fifty,  or  a  hundred  years 
before.  Yet  in  some  respects  great  changes 
had  occurred  in  the  western  fur  trade.  From 
the  time  of  Lewis  and  Clark's  return  and  the 
opening  of  the  Missouri  River  cQuntry,  Ameri- 
can traders  had  shown  a  strong  disposition  to 


^  The  Western  Engineer,  employed  as  part  of  Long's,  exploring 
equipment  in  18 19. 

2  Under  the  above  title  Captain  H.  M.  Chittenden  has  recently 
given  us  a  remarkably  complete,  accurate,  and  interesting  history 
of  the  fur  trade  throughout  the  great  region  west  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. His  book,  which  cost  years  of  patient  research,  was  pub- 
lished in  1902  (3  vols.^, 


PIONEERS   OF  THE   PIONEERS  1 39 

organize  for  the  better  regulation  of  the  busi- 
ness. The  Missouri  Fur  Company,  founded 
in  1808  for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  trade 
of  the  Missouri  River,  was  the  pioneer  of  such 
associations  in  the  United  States,  and  it  soon 
made  St.  Louis  a  great  fur-trading  center.^  But, 
while  remarkably  successful  elsewhere,  this 
company  did  not  succeed  after  all  in  gaining 
commercial  possession  of  the  upper  Missouri, 
because  of  the  hostile  Blackfeet.  In  18^2  a 
new  company  was  organized  at  St.  Louis  by 
General  William  H.  Ashley,  whose  plan  in  the 
beginning  was  to  establish  trading  posts  at 
favorable  points  on  the  upper  Missouri,  like 
the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone,  and  keep  agents 
in  the  country.  The  Blackfeet,  however,  could 
not  be  pacified,  and  this  method  had  to  be 
given  up.  Ashley  then  adopted  the  policy  of 
sending  bands  of  trappers  to  form  camps  in 
the  best  beaver  districts,  and  trap  out  the 
streams  one  after  another. 

Under  leaders  like  David  Jackson  and  Wil-  American 
Ham  L.  Sublette,  these  parties   not  only  gath-  crosHhe 
ered  the  fur  harvest  of  some  of  the  Missouri  Rockies 
fields,  but  traversed  the  country  for  great  dis- 
tances  to  the    southwest,  far  into  the    Rocky 
Mountains.      Finally  they  entered  the  region 
tributary  to  the  Columbia,  and  came  into  com- 

^  Astor  tried  to  combine  with  this  company,  but  was  unable  to 
do  so. 


I40     A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

petition  with  the  traders  and  trappers  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.^  It  was  the  clashing 
of  skirmishers.  Behind  the  one  party  was  a 
powerful  commercial  organization,^and  a  proud 
but  distant  government  jealous  of  their  legal 
rights ;  behind  the  other  was  a  rapidly  expand- 
ing nation,  whose  people  would  one  day  be  pre- 
pared to  follow  the  traders  a:cross  the  Rockies, 
and  plant  American  colonies  on  the  coasts  of 
the  South  Sea. 
Wanderings  In  1 826  General  Ashley  turned  over  his 
tltiit^  business  to  Jedediah  S.  Smith,  David  Jackson, 
and  William  L.  Sublette.  The  first  of  these 
/  (Smith)  immediately  set  out  from  their  Rocky 
Mountain  camp  and  with  a  few  men  crossed 
the  desert  and  mountains  to  Cahfornia,  arriving 
at  San  Diego  in  October,  1826.  He  remained 
in  the  country  during  the  winter,  and  the  fol- 
lowing summer  returned  to  Salt  Lake.  In 
spite  of  severe  sufferings  on  his  first  trip.  Smith 
went  back  to  California  the  same  season,  losing 
most  of  his  men  at  the  hands  of  the  Mojave 
Indians.)    In  California  he  got  together  a  new 

1  Several  instances  are  recorded  of  American  trapping  com- 
panies getting  the  advantage  of  British  parties  in  some  way  and 
securing  their  fiirs.  In  1825  General  Ashley  got  possession,  for  a 
•  trifling  sum,  of  about  seventy-five  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  Hud- 
son's Bay  furs.  We  do  not  know  exactly  how  these  peculiar  feats 
of  wilderness  commerce  were  performed,  though  it  is  pretty  cer- 
tain that  the  free  use  of  whisky  upon  opposition  trappers  was  one 
of  the  means  employed. 


•PIONEERS   OP^  THE   PIONEERS  141 

party,  and  in  1828  crossed  the  mountains  north- 
ward to  Oregon.  On  the  Umpqua  River  his 
company  was  attacked  by  the  Indians  and  all  ex- 
cept the  leader  and  three  others  killed.  Smith 
also  lost  his  entire  catch  of  furs,  his  horses,  and 
other  property,  so  that  when  he  arrived  at  Fort 
Vancouver  (August,  1828)  he  was  in  desperate  ^ 
straits.  Dr.  McLoughlin  received  him  kindly,  V 
supplied  all  his  needs,  and  even  sent  men  to  ' 
the  Umpqua  to  recover  the  furs  stolen  by  the 
savages.  Nearly  all  were  secured,  and  these 
McLoughlin  purchased  at  the  market  price, 
giving  the  American  trader  a  draft  on  London 
for  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars.  From 
Vancouver  Smith  went  up  the  Columbia  to 
Clark's  Fork,  and  then  to  the  rendezvous  of 
his  company  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  hav- 
ing gained  the  distinction  of  making  the  first 
overland  trip  from  the  United  States  into  Cali- 
fornia, and  also  the  first  from  California '~"to" 
Oregon. 

The  next  spring  (1830)  Smith,  Jackson,  and  Wagons 
Sublette  took  the  first  loaded  wagons  into  the  p^^f  "'^^ 
Rocky  Mountains  to  the  head  of  Wind  River,  Captain 
having   driven   from   the    Missouri   along  the     °""^^^  ^ 
line  of   the  Platte  and  the  Sweetwater.     The 
partners  reported  that  jthey  could  easily  have 
crossed  the  mountains  by  way  of  ^fltii  Pass. 
The    discovery    of    this    natura^jj^^Hay,    so 
important  in  the  history  of  the^HPe   PaciticA  tiv 


i  ut^w 


142    A  History  of  the  pacific  northwest 

coast,  must  be  credited  to  Ashley's  trappers, 
some  of  whom  first  made  use  of  it  in  1823. 
Three  years  later  a  mounted  cannon  was  taken 
to  Salt  Lake  by  this  route,  and  four  years 
after  that  loaded  wagons  crossed  over  for  the 
first  time  to  the  west  flowing  waters.  These 
vehicles  belonged  to  the  train  of  Captain 
Bonneville,  a  Frenchman  in  the  United  States 
army,  who  turned  fur  trader  in  1832,  hoping  to 
gain  a  fortune  like  General  Ashley.  The 
story  of  his  romantic  marches  and  long  de- 
tours through  the  great  western  wilderness 
has  been  charmingly  told  by  Irving^in  his  "  Ad- 
ventures of  Captain  Bonneville."  In  the  space 
of  about  three  years  he  traversed  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  Lewis  River  valley,  and  went  down 
the  Columbia  as  far  as  Fort  Walla  Walla.^ 
But  the  gallant  captain  was  no  match  for  the 
shrewd  American  traders,  or  for  the  well-organ- 
ized British  company  controlling  the  Columbia 
River  region,  and  therefore  his  venture  turned 
out  a  complete  failure. 
Wyeth's  In  thc  samc  year  that  Bonneville  set  out  for 

trading         ^j^^    Wcst  an   enterurisins:  Bostonian,  Captain 

scheme;  ^  i  o  '  i 

the  first  trip   Nathaniel  J.  Wyeth,  also  entered  the  Oregon 

to  Oregon     couutry  for  the  purpose  of  trade.     W3^eth  had 

long  been  familiar  with  the  writings  of    Hall 

J.  Kel^l^oncerning  Oregon,  and  in  the  sum- 


^l^jj^c 


^  A  fCT^^his  men,  under  Joseph  Walker,  went  to  California  in 
1833-1834.     Some  of  them  remained  there  as  settlers. 


PIONEERS    OF   THE   PIONEERS  I43 

mer  of  1831  he  arranged  a  plan  to  send  a  ship 
around  Cape  Horn  while  he,  with  a  party  of 
landsmen,  was  to  proceed  across  the  country 
hoping  to  meet  the  vessel  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia.  A  company  of  Boston  mer- 
chants furnished  the  vessel,  which  sailed  in  the 
fall  of  183 1.  Wyeth  gathered  a  small  party  of 
men,  formed  a  sort  of  "  Wild  West "  camp  on 
an  island  in  Boston  Harbor,  greatly  to  the 
astonishment  of  most  people,  and  in  spring 
was  reacfy  to  begin  the  overland  march. 
Knowing  that  the  trip  would  have  to  be  made 
partly  by  land  and  partly  by  water,  the  ingen- 
ious Yankee  invented  a  machine  which  could 
be  used  either  as  a  wagon  bed  or  a  boat.  This 
the  Latin  scholars  at  Harvard  College  named 
the  "  Nat  Wyethium."  He  found  it  less  useful 
than  at  first  supposed  and  left  it  at  St.  Louis. 
At  that  place  Wyeth  and  his  men  joined  a 
party  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company 
under  William  L.  Sublette,  with  whom  they 
made  the  trip  to  thei  Rocky  Mountains  by 
means  of  a  pack  train.  Here  some  of  the  men 
turned  back  discouraged,  so  that  the  last  por- 
tion of  the  trip  was  made  with  only  eleven 
men.  This  little  party  reached  Vancouver, 
October  24,  1832.  The  ship  had  not^afrived, 
and  they  soon  learned  that  she  hacf  been 
wrecked  at  the  Society  Islands.  Wyeth  there- 
fore returned  to  Boston  in  1833,  leaving  a  few 


144     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC    NORTHWEST 

of  his  men,  who  became  the  first  agricultural 
settlers  of  Oregon.  The  business. part  of  the 
enterprise  had  failed  completely. 
Wyeth'ssec-  But  Wycth  was  plucky,  and  had  great  faith 
tion^^^^  ^'  i^  ^^^  prospects  for  a  profitable  commercial 
enterprise  in  the  Oregon  country.  The  salmon 
fishery  of  the  Columbia  was  a  possible  source 
of  great  wealth,  and  he  proposed  to  couple  fur 
trading  with  it.  He  therefore  induced  the 
Boston  partners  to  supply  another  ship,  the 
May  Dacre^  which  was  sent  down  the  coast  in 
the  fall  of  1833.  Wyeth  himself  made  the  trip 
overland  once  more  in  the  summer  of  1834. 
This  time  he  took  a  number  of  wagons  from 
St.  Louis,  with  goods  which  had  been  or- 
dered by  the  Rocky  Mountain  Fur  Company. 
When  the  company  refused  to  receive  them, 
Wyeth  selected  a  place  near  the  junction  of  the 
Lewis  and  Portneuf  rivers,  where  he  built  Fort 
Hall  and  began  trading  with  the  Indians  on 
his  own  account  by  means  of  an  agent  left 
there.  He  then  passed  on  down  the  river, 
reaching  Vancouver  in  September.  Once  more 
the  energetic  captain  was  disappointed,  for  the 
May  Dacre,  which  had  been  expected  to  reach 
the  Columbia  early  in  the  summer,  during  the 
salmon  fishing  season,  came  in  tardily  the  day 
after  the  land  party  arrived.  Nothing  could 
then  be  done  about  fishing,  so  Wyeth  sent  her 
to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  with  a  cargo  of  timber. 


.PIONEERS  .OF   THE   PIONEERS  145 

while  he  spent  the  winter  in  trapping  beaver 
on  the  streams  south  of  the  Columbia,  princi- 
pally the  Des  Chutes.  By  the  middle  of  Feb- 
ruary he  was  back  at  Vancouver,  the  guest  of 
McLoughlin.  His  trading  plans  were  now  all 
ruined.  Nothing  could  be  done  with  the  fur 
trade  in  opposition  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany. His  trading  establishment  at  Fort  Hall 
did  not  prosper,  the  fisheries  and  other  com- 
merce amounted  to  little.  Wyeth  lingered  in 
the  country  till  the  summer  of  1836,  when  he 
returned  to  Boston  and  soon  closed  out  his 
business  in  Oregon.  Some  of  the  men  left  by 
him  began  the  business  of  farming,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 
Thus  Wyeth's  enterprise  is  in  a  very  real 
sense  a  bridge  between  the  purely  commercial 
era  of  northwestern  history  and  the  era  of 
actual  colonization.^ 

But   there   was    also   another    motive,    very 

^  Wyeth  kept  a  regular  journal,  which  has  been  preserved  in 
the  family  of  one  of  his  descendants.  A  few  years  ago  the  manu- 
script was  sent  from  Massachusetts  to  Oregon  and  published 
(1899),  together  with  a  large  number  of  Wyeth's  letters,  under 
the  editorial  direction  of  Professor  E.G.  Young,  secretary  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society.  The  volume  forms  an  invaluable 
source  for  the  study  of  conditions  in  Oregon,  and  the  state  of  the 
western  fur  trade,  during  the  years  covered.  A  very  rare  book 
on  the  first  part  of  the  first  Wyeth  expedition  is  the  little  volume 
by  John  B.  Wyeth,  published  at  Boston  in  1833.  ^^^Y  ^  few 
copies  are  now  in  existence.  It  is,  however,  being  reprinted  under 
the  editorship  of  Reuben  Gold  Thwaites,  LL.D. 


146      A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Indian  different  from  that  influencing  the  fur  trader, 

the  Welt'''  ^^^^  ^^^  drawing  men  into  the  great  western 
wilds  and  on  toward  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This 
was  the  desire  on  the  part  of  many  good  men 
to  do  something  for  the  improvement  of  the 
Indians.  There  was  nothing  new  in  this  any 
more  than  in  the  fur  trade ;  but  in  the  one  case 
as  in  the  other  the  period  we  have  now  reached 
witnesses  a  great  expansion  of  effort  and  better 
organization.  A  few  missionaries  had  labored 
among  the  Indians  west  of  the  Alleghanies  since 
the  first  settlers  crossed  those  mountains,  and 
some  of  the  tribes  had  made  good  progress  in 
the  direction  of  civilization.  With  the  pur- 
chase of  Louisiana,  however,  it  became  the 
policy  of  the  government  to  induce  those  living 
east  of  the  river  to  go  to  the  new  territory  on 
the  western  side  in  order  to  make  room  for  the 
expanding  white  settlements.^  Some  crossed 
over  freely,  or  at  least  with  little  objection,  but 
others  refused  to  go.  After  a  time  the  govern- 
ment undertook  to  remove  them.  This  caused 
\  great  distress  among  the  Indians,  and  likewise 
/  produced  a  mighty  wave  of  sympathy  for  the 
^  red  men.  The  newspapers  recited  their  suf- 
ferings,  and  quoted   the  pathetic  speeches  of 

^  Writing  of  the  significance  of  Louisiana  shortly  after  the 
purchase,  Jefferson  said,  "It  will  also  open  an  asylum  for  these 
unhappy  people  [the  Indians],  in  a  country  which  may  suit  their 
habits  of  life  better  than  that  they  now  occupy,  which  perhaps 
they  will  be  willing  to  exchange  with  us.'' 


•PIONEERS   OF    THE   PIONEERS  147 

Indian  chiefs,  forced  to  leave  "the  land  of  their 
fathers,  where  the  Indian  fires  were  going  out." 
Missionaries  followed,  without  hesitation,  to  the 
strange  lands  where  "  new  fires  were  lighting 
in  the  West,"  and  soon  a  considerable  number 
of  devoted  men  were  at  work  among  the  tribes 
living  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Rocky 
Mountains.  Some  were  laboring  among  peo- 
ples they  had  known  east  of  the  river;  some 
sought  out  new  fields  on  the  Missouri,  the 
Kansas,  the  Platte,  and  other  streams,  where 
they  preached,  taught  the  Indian  children  to 
read,  and  often  induced  the  natives  to  till  the 
soil  and  live  in  permanent  houses,  instead  of 
wandering  about  in  pursuit  of  game.  Some- 
times the  government  employed  the  mission- 
aries as  teachers  or  Indian  agents,  and  often 
assisted  them  by  providing  a  blacksmith  to 
make  tools  and  farming  implements. 

Since  these  things  were  going  on  in  many  xheNez 
places  throughout  the  West,  and  since  a  few  ^^^^^^fo^st 
persons  like  Hall  J.  Kelley  had  already  been  Louis 
writing  about  the  Oregon  Indians  in  connection 
with  plans  for  settling  that  country,  it  is  not 
strange,  but  perfectly  natural,  that  men  should 
at   last    undertake    to    Christianize    the    tribes 
living  on  the  Pacific  coast.     A  little  incident 
occurring  in  1831  or  1832  (the  date  is  in  doubt), 
was  sufiicient  to  start  the  first  missionaries  across 
the  mountains.     As  the  story  goes,  the  nations 


148      A   HISTORY   OF   THE  PACIFIC    NORTHWEST 

of  the  upper  Columbia  had  learned  from  British 
traders  something  about  the  white  man's  reli- 
gion. Wishing  to  know  more,  the  Nez  Perces 
sent  four  of  their  leading  men  to  St.  Louis  to 
see  General  Clark,  whom  they  remembered  as 
having  once  visited  their  country,  to  ask  for 
"the  white  man's  book  of  heaven,"  as  the  Bible 
was  called  among  them.  These  Indians,  set- 
ting out  on  their  strange  and  interesting 
mission,  crossed  the  mountains  and  the  plains 
in  safety  and  reached  St.  Louis,  where  they 
were  kindly  received  by  General  Clark.  Two 
of  them  died  while  in  the  city.  The  remaining 
two  started  for  their  own  country  in  spring, 
but  one  died  before  reaching  the  mountains. 
The  story  of  these  four  Indians,  and  their 
long  journey  to  the  East  in  search  of  spiritual 
help  and  guidance,  was  soon  published  in  the 
religious  papers  and  created  the  keenest  interest. 
First  to  respond  to  the  call  for  teachers  was  the 
Methodist  denomination,  which  in  1833  commis- 
sioned Rev.  Jason  Lee  to  begin  work  among 
the  Flatheads.^  Learning  of  Wyeth's  plan  to 
return  to  Oregon  in  spring,  Lee.  arranged  to 
have  all  the  provisions  and  equipments  for 
the  new  mission  taken  to  the  Columbia  in 
the    May   Dacre,    while   he    and    his    nephew, 


1  The  Indians  who  went  to  St.  Louis  were  often  spoken  of  as 
Flatheads,  though  in  fact  they  appear  to  have  belonged  to  the 
Nez  Percds  branch. 


PIONEERS   OF   THE    PIONEERS  149 

Daniel  Lee,  and  three  laymen,  Cyrus  Shep- 
ard,  P.  L.  Edwards,  and  C.  M.  Walker,  joined 
Wyeth's  overland  party  and  made  their  way  to 
the  Columbia.  They  decided,  for  various  rea- 
sons, to  let  the  Flatheads  wait  and  to  begin 
work  among  the  Indians  on  the  Willamette^ 
All  went  down  to  Vancouver,  arriving  in  the 
month  of  September,  1834.  When  the  May 
Dacre  came  in  with  their  supplies,  the  mis- 
sionaries explored  the  country  for  a  suitable 
site.  "  On  the  east  side  of  the  river  [Willa- 
mette], and  sixty  miles  from  its  mouth,  a  loca- 
tion was  chosen  to  begin  a  mission.  Here  was 
a  broad,  rich  bottom,  many  miles  in  length,  well 
watered  and  supplied  with  timber,  oak,  fir,  Cot- 
tonwood, white  maple,  and  white  oak,  scattered 
along  its  grassy  plains."  ^  They  immediately 
began  preparing  materials  for  a  house  and 
when  the  rains  of  winter  came  had  a  respect- 
able shelter.  At  the  same  time  land  was 
fenced  for  cropping,  a  barn  built,  and  other 
improvements  made ;  so  that  the  establish- 
ment took  on  the  appearance  of  a  prosperous 
woodland  farm. 

The  missionaries  were  not  the  only  settlers  The  first 
in    the   Willamette  valley.      On  arriving  here  ^^^^^ 
they  found  about  a  dozen  white  men  already 

1  Lee  and  Frost's  "  The  First  Ten  Years  of  Oregon,"  reprinted 
by  the  Oregonian^  Sunday  edition,  October  ii  to  January  lo, 
1903-1904. 


I50     A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

occupying  little  farms,  scattered  along  the  river, 
where  they  lived  in  log  cabins  with  Indian 
wives  and  families  of  children.  Most  of  them 
were  former  servants  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  who  had  either  become  unfit  to 
range  the  forest,  or  preferred  to  settle  down  to 
cultivate  the  soil  and  live  a  quiet  life.  Dr. 
McLoughlin  furnished  them  stock  and  pro- 
visions, as  he  did  the  men  left  in  the  country 


Old  Mission  House,  Oregon. 


Progress  of 
the  mission 


by  Wyeth,  receiving  his  pay  in  wheat  when 
the  crops  were  harvested,  and  in  young  stock 
to  take  the  place  of  full-grown  animals  which 
he  supplied.  Here  was  the  beginning  of  the 
first  agricultural  colony  in  Oregon,  and  it  was 
this  mixed  community  into  which  the  mission- 
aries now  came  as  a  new  influence,  tending  to 
bring  about  better  social  conditions. 

From  the  first,  the  missionaries  were  more 
successful  in  their  efforts  among  the  neighbor- 
ing settlers  than  with  the  surrounding  Indians. 


PIONEERS    OF   THE   PIONEERS  151 

They  opened  a  school,  maintained  religious 
services,  and  soon  organized  a  temperance  so- 
ciety which,  partly  through  Dr.  McLoughlin's 
influence,  many  of  the  white  men  joined.  The 
Indian  children  were  admitted  to  their  school, 
and  some  of  them  made  fair  progress  in  learn- 
ing. Orphans  were  adopted  into  the  mission, 
family  from  time  to  time,  receiving  in  this  way 
greater  benefits  from  their  contact  with  civiljf- 
zation.  In  1837  the  mission  was  reenforced  bp^ 
the  arrival  of  twenty  assistants  sent  from  tile 
East  in  two  vessels.^  New  efforts  were  nolv 
made  to  Christianize  the  Indians  of  the  Wil- 
lamette, and  the  following  year  a  branch  missiin 
was  begun  at  the  Dalles  of  the  Columbia.  Tnis  \ 
became  an  important  station ;  but  the  work  in 
the  valley  did  not  flourish,  for  the  natives  were 
a  sickly,  degraded  race,  almost  beyond  the  reach 
of  aid,  and  were  rapidly  dying  off. 

Let  us  now  see  what  was  going  on  in  other  Parker's 
portions  of  the  Oregon  country.     The  story  of  ^^^^ 
the   Nez   Perces   delegation  to  St.  Louis  had 
affected   other   denominations   as  well   as   the 

^  The  first  party  arrived  in  May,  and  contained  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
Elijah  White,  with  two  children  ;  Mr.  Alanson  Beers,  his  wife 
and  three  children ;  three  young  women,  Miss  Pitman,  who  was 
soon  married  to  Rev.  Jason  Lee  and  who  died  the  following  year, 
Miss  Susan  Downing,  who  married  Mr.  Shepard,  and  Miss 
Elvira  Johnson;  and  one  unmarried  man,  Mr.  W.  H.  Wilson. 
The  second  company,  arriving  in  September,  consisted  of  seven 
persons:  Rev.  David  Leslie,  wife  and  three  children,  Miss  Mar- 
garet J.  Smith,  and  Mr.  H.  K.  W.  Perkins. 


i 


152      A  HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Methodists,  and  in  1835  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  sent 
out  Dr.  Samuel  Parker  to  inquire  into  the 
prospects  for  missionary  work  among  the  Ore- 
gon Indians.  Mr.  Parker  was  accompanied 
by  a  pious  young  physician,  Dr.  Marcus  Whit- 
man. Together  they  made  the  overland 
trip  from  Liberty,  Missouri,  with  a  party  of 
Rocky  Mountain  trappers.  Arriving  at  Pierre's 
Hole,  they  found  Indians  of  several  Columbia 
River  tribes,  who  all  seemed  anxious  to  have 
missionaries  settle  among  them.  Thinking, 
therefore,  that  the  main  point  was  now  gained, 
Dr.  Whitman  returned  to  the  East  to  bring  out 
assistants  and  supplies  to  begin  one  or  more 
missions.  Dr.  Parker  went  on,  under  Indian 
guidance,  to  the  Columbia,  arriving  at  Fort 
Vancouver  on  the  1 6th  of  October.  Here  he 
spent  the  winter  as  the  guest  of  Dr.  McLough- 
lin,  and  when  spring  came  set  out  for  the  upper 
country.  He  stopped  at  Fort  Walla  Walla, 
where  he  preached  to  a  multitude  of  Indians. 
Then  journeying  up  the  valley  of  Walla  Walla 
River  he  observed,  some  twenty  miles  from  the 
Columbia,  "  a  delightful  situation  for  a  mission- 
ary establishment.  ...  A  mission  located  on 
this  fertile  field,"  he  says,  "  would  draw  around 
[it]  an  interesting  settlement,  who  would  fix 
down  to  cultivate  the  soil  and  to  be  instructed. 
How  easily  might  the  plow  go  through  these 


PIONEERS    OF    THE   PIONEERS  153 

vallies,  and  what  rich  and  abundant  harvests 
might  be  gathered  by  the  hand  of  industry." 
From  this  place  he  went  up  the  Lewis  River, 
where  he  seems  to  have  fixed  upon  another  site 
for  a  mission,  and  then  struck  off  northward,  ex- 
ploring the  beautiful  valley  of  Spokane  River. 
Here,  too,  were  many  Indians,  who  appeared  to 
be  anxious  for  religious  instruction.  Later  in 
the  year  (1836)  Dr.  Parker  sailed  from  Van- 
couver for  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  whence  he 
returned  to  the  Atlantic  coast  by  way  of  Cape 
Horn,  reaching  his  home  at  Ithaca,  New  York, 
in  May,  1837,  after  an  absence  of  more  than 
two  years.^ 

When  Dr.  Whitman  returned  to  New  York  TheWhit- 
in  the  fall  of  1835,  with  a  report  that  the  Co-  ™^"P^'-ty°f 
lumbia  River  Indians  were  eager  for  teachers, 
the  board  at  once  commissioned  him  to  super- 
intend the  planting  of  a  mission  in  that  coun- 
try. He  had  some  trouble  to  find  helpers,  but 
at  last  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  H.  Spalding  consented 
to  go  with  Whitman  and  his  newly  married 
wife.  Mr.  W.  H.  Gray  also  joined  the  party. 
It  must  have  required  a  great  deal  of  courage 
for  these  two  women  to  undertake  the  overland 
trip,  which  thus  far  had  been  accomplished  by 
none  but  men.  At  Liberty,  Missouri,  the  mis- 
sionaries joined  a  company  of  fur  traders,  and 

^The  following  year  Dr.  Parker  published  his  interesting  little 
book  called  "An  Exploring  Tour  Beyond  the  Rocky  Mountains." 


missionaries 


154      A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Beginnings 
of  the 
interior 


traveled  with  them  to  the  mountains.  In  ad- 
dition to  saddle  horses  and  pack  animals,  Whit- 
man had  provided  his  party  with  a  one-horse 
wagon.  At  that  time  there  was  no  road  be- 
yond Fort  Hall,  but  on  account  of  Mrs.  Spald- 
ing's feeble  health,  which  made  it  impossible 
for  her  to  keep  the  saddle,  he  drove  this  vehi- 
cle as  far  as  Fort  Boise  on  Lewis  River,  thus 
opening  a  new  stage  in  the  wagon  road  to  the 
Columbia. 

Arriving  at  Fort  Vancouver  in  September, 
the  women  were  left  under  the  protection  of 
Dr.  McLoughlin's  family,  while  the  men  went 
up  the  river  to  begin  the  missions.  On  the 
Walla  Walla  River,  about  twenty  miles  above 
the  fort,  was  a  place  which  the  Indians  called 
Waiilatpu,  where  the  first  establishment  was 
begun.  In  this  prairie  country  timber  was  very 
scarce,  and  therefore  the  missionaries  built  their 
house  of  "  adobes,"  large  brick  made  of  clay  and 
baked  by  exposure  in  the  sun.^  This  finished, 
the  second  station  was  begun  on  the  Clear- 
water, at  its  junction  with  the  Lapwai,  a  short 
distance  below  the  point  where  Lewis  and 
Clark,  in  1805,  reached  the  navigable  waters 
of  the  Columbia.  The  place  was  in  the  midst 
of  the  Nez  Perces  country,  about  one  hundred 


^  These  particular  brick  were  twenty  inches  long,  ten  inches 
wide,  and  four  inches  thick,  as  Dr.  Whitman  wrote  to  a  fellow- 
missionary  on  Platte  River. 


PIONEERS    OF    THE    PIONEERS  155 

and  twenty  miles  east  of  Waiilatpu.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Spalding  took  up  their  abode  here  while 
the  Whitmans  remained  at  the  Walla  Walla 
station. 
/  The  Indians  of  this  country  were  far  superior  Expansion 
in  every  way  to  those  of  western  Oregon,  spotire''^^' 
They  were  wanderers  during  a  good  share  of  mission 
the  year,  but  the  winters  were  usually  spent 
in  fixed  places,  where  they  could  be  reached 
with  ease.  It  was  not  long  before  many  of 
them  became  interested  in  the  schools  estab- 
lished at  both  missions  for  their  benefit,  and 
after  a  time  some  were  taken  into  the  church. 
Special  efforts  were  made  to  teach  them  to 
depend  more  upon  agriculture  and  less  upon 
hunting,  fishing,  and  the  search  for  camas 
roots.  It  was  easy  to  cultivate  the  soil  in  this 
region,  as  Dr.  Parker  foresaw,  so  that  the 
Indians  were  soon  raising  little  fields  of  corn 
and  patches  of  potatoes,  which  added  much  to 
their  comfort  and  well-being.  In  the  spring 
of  1837  Whitman  planted  twelve  acres  of  corn 
and  one  acre  of  potatoes,  besides  peas  and  bar- 
ley. A  few  cattle  were  early  procured  from 
the  East,  and  these  multiplying  rapidly,  and 
being  added  to  from  time  to  time,  soon  devel- 
oped into  considerable  herds,  of  which  the 
Indians  secured  a  share.  In  the  fall  of  1838  # 
a  small  party  came  from  the  East  overland  to 
reenforce  the  up-river  missions.     It  consisted 


interior 
missions 


156      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

of  Rev.  Gushing  Eells  and  wife,  Rev.  Elkanah 
Walker  and  wife,  Rev.  A.  B.  Smith  and  wife, 
Mr.  W.  H.  Gray  and  wife,  and  Mr.  G.  Rogers.^ 
Now  it  was  determined  to  occupy  the  northern- 
)  most  of  the  three  mission  fields  selected  by  Dr. 
Parker,  the  Spokane  country,  where  the  families 
of  Walker  and  Eells  establish  themselves  in  the 
spring  of  1839.^ 
Life  at  the  Thus  the  tribcs  of  the  interior  country  were 
at  last  brought  under  the  influence  of  a  few 
men  and  women  wholly  devoted  to  their  wel- 
fare, and  understanding  with  a  fair  degree  of 
clearness  how  to  guide  these  barbarians  along 
the  path  of  civilization.  The  task  was  stu- 
pendous ;  but  the  missionaries  knew  it  was 
not  impossible,  and  labored  with  exemplary 
courage.  They  preached  to  the  natives  as 
regularly  as  possible,  gathered  the  children  and 
their  elders  in  the  schools,  translated  portions 
of  the  Bible  into  the  Indian  lang^uao^e  and 
printed  them  on  a  little  press,  the  gift  of  the 
Hawaiian  missionaries  ;  they  helped  the  Indians 
build  houses  for  themselves,  showed  them  how 
to  till  their  fields  and  lead  water  upon  the  grow- 
ing crops;    they  erected    rude  mills   to   grind 

1  Gray,  who  came  to  the  Columbia  in  1836  with  Whitman  and 
Spalding,  had  gone  back  to  secure  help,  and  was  married  before 
returning. 

2  This  place  was  known  as  Tsimakane.  For  a  short  time  a 
station  was  also  occupied  at  Kamiah,  on  Lewis  River, 


PIONEERS   OF   THE   PIONEERS  157 

their  corn  and  wheat.  Work  was  more  than 
abundant  for  these  few  men  and  women,  yet 
this  only  made  their  condition  the  more  pitiable 
for  its  intense  loneliness.  The  families  were 
so  widely  separated  that  visits  required  a  great 
deal  of  time,  which  could  seldom  be  spared. 
Once  a  year  the  men  from  the  several  stations 


TsiMAKANE  Mission. 


gathered  at  Waiilatpu  to  conduct  the  annual 
business  of  the  mission,  and  occasionally  two 
or  three  families  managed  to  be  together  for 
a  brief  time.  But  for  the  most  part  they  de- 
pended on  letters  sent  by  Indian  carriers  to 
keep  them  in  touch  with  their  fellow-workers, 
and  on  trading  or  trapping  parties  to  bring 
news  from  down  the  river,  w^iere  social  life  was 
so  much  brighter,  and  where  ships  came  in  from 


158      A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

foreign  shores.  Toward  the  end  of  the  long 
summer,  when  the  corn  was  ripening  in  the 
field,  they  looked  with  longing  for  the  annual 
pack  train  coming  down  from  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains, which  usually  brought  letters  from  friends 
in  eastern  homes,  and  sometimes  a  welcome 
traveler  or  missionary. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE    COLONIZING    MOVEMENT 

Thr  United  States  government,  in  all  its  Ten  years  of 
departments,  dropped  the  Oregon  question  ^.^^^^^  Jg^^", 
when  Gallatin  secured  the  second  treaty  of  1837 
joint  occupation.  For  nearly  ten  years  after 
that  date  neither  Congress  nor  the  executive 
made  any  move  of  importance  toward  settling 
the  dispute  with  England,  or  assisting  Ameri- 
can citizens  to  gain  a  foothold  within  the  Oregon 
country.  Yet  this  period,  1 82  7-1 837,  is  of  great 
importance  in  the  history  of  Oregon  because  of 
the  doings  of  the  first  pioneers  as  described  in 
the  preceding  chapter.  Trappers,  traders,  and 
missionaries  had  entered  the  region ;  and  while 
little  impression  was  made  upon  the  business 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company,  a  few  Ameri- 
cans remained  to  till  the  soil  and  to  instruct 
the  Indians  in  religious  things.  This  created 
a  bond  between  the  United  States  and  the  dis- 
tant Columbia  which  forced  the  government 
to  take  an  interest  in  that  country.  The  ques- 
tion of  the  future  of  Texas  had  also  compelled 
the  United  States  to  concern  itself  about  the 
Mexican    territories,   and    at    one    time    (1835) 

159 


visit  to 
Oregon 


l6o     A   HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

President  Jackson  was  anxious  to  buy  northern 
California  in  order  to  secure  the  fine  harbor 
of  San  Francisco.  Accordingly,  he  sent  an 
agent,  Mr.  W.  A.  Slacum,  to  the  Pacific  to 
collect  information  tor  the  government,  and  on 
this  voyage  the  first  official  visit  was  paid  to 
Oregon, 
siacum's  Slacuui  arrived    in  the    Columbia    River  at 

the  end  of  the  year  1836,  with  particular  in- 
structions from  President  Jackson  to  govern 
his  doings  there.  He  was  to  visit  all  the  white 
settlements  on  and  near  the  Columbia,  as  well 
as  the  various  Indian  villages ;  to  make  a  com- 
plete census  of  both  whites  and  Indians,  and 
to  learn  what  the  white  people  thought  about 
the  question  of  American  rights  in  Oregon. 
Briefly,  he  was  to  "  obtain  all  such  information 
...  as  [might]  prove  interesting  or  useful  to  the 
United  States."  Mr.  Slacum  performed  his 
work  with  a  good  deal  of  thoroughness.  He 
made  charts  of  the  Columbia  River,  locating 
all  the  principal  Indian  villages ;  visited  Fort 
Vancouver  to  learn  about  the  fur  trade  and 
other  business  of  the  establishment;  and  went 
up  the  Willamette  valley  to  the  Methodist 
mission,  calling  at  nearly  every  settler's  cabin 
passed  on  the  way.  He  was  pleased  with  the 
country,  found  the  missionaries  doing  good 
work  among  the  French  and  other  settlers, 
and  became  enthusiastic  over  the  agricultural 


THE   COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  i6l 

advantages  of  the  Willamette  valley.  He  pro- 
nounced it  "  the  finest  grazing  country  in  the 
world.  Here  there  are  no  droughts,"  he  says, 
"  as  on  the  Pampas  of  Buenos  Ayres  or  the 
plains  of  California,  whilst  the  lands  abound 
with  richer  grasses  both  winter  and  summer." 

Mr.  Slacum  believed  that  if  the  settlers  could  Thewnia- 
be  better  provided  with  cattle,  which  were  as  J^^"^  ^'^"^^ 

^     ^  '  ^  Company, 

yet  comparatively  scarce,  the  prosperity  of  the  1837 
country  would  be  assured ;  and  with  this  idea 
the  Oregon  people  heartily  agreed.  The 
Hudson's  Bay  Company,  while  generous  in 
providing  farmers  with  work  oxen,  were  not 
prepared  to  sell  breeding  stock  freely,  because 
their  herds  were  not  yet  large  enough  to  more 
than  supply  their  own  needs.  The  only  prac- 
tical way  to  obtain  more  cattle  was  to  bring 
them  overland  from  California,  where  the 
Mexican  ranchers  were  slaughtering  many 
thousands  each  year  for  the  sake  of  the  hides 
and  tallow  which  they  sold  mainly  to  Boston 
shipowners.^  There  was  one  settler  in  the 
Willamette  valley  who  was  familiar  with  Cali- 
fornia, having  lived  there  several  years  before 
coming  to  Oregon.  This  was  Ewinp^  Youn^.  a 
man  of  considerable  talent  and  enterprise,  who 

^  One  of  the  most  entertaining  books  on  early  California  is 
Richard  H.  Dana's  classic  story,  "  Two  Years  Before. the  Mast.'' 
It  gives  an  account  of  the  author's  experience  while  a  sailor  on 
one  of  the  "  hide  and  tallow  "  ships  trading  along  the  California 
coast. 

M  ♦ 


l62      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

now  headed  a  movement  for  bringing  cattle 
from  the  South/  Slacum  encouraged  the 
project  in  every  way,  especially  by  offering  to 
carry  to  California  without  expense  the  men  who 
were  to  go  for  the  purpose  of  securing  cattle. 
An  association  was  formed,  with  Young  at  its 
head,  that  took  the  name  of  the  "  Willamette 
Cattle  Company."  A  fund  of  several  thousand 
dollars  was  subscribed, partly  by  Dr.  McLoughlin 
for  the  fur  company,  partly  by  the  Methodist 
mission,  and  the  remainder  by  individuals. 
Mr.  Slacum  himself  took  a  small  financial  inter- 
est in  the  company.  Ewing  Young  and  P.  L. 
Edwards,  with  a  few  others,  took  passage  in  the 
Loriot  (Slacum's  ship)  to  California,  where  they 
bought  eight  hundred  head  of  cattle  at  threei 
dollars  apiece,  and  forty  horses  at  twelve  dol- 
lars apiece.  After  many  vexations  and  hard- 
ships they  arrived  in  the  Willamette  valley 
with  six  hundred  head  of  stock,  the  remainder 
having  been  lost  by  the  way. 

The  bringing  of  these  cattle,  in  the  fall  of  1837, 
marks  the  opening  of  a  new  era  for  Oregon. 

^  Young  was  a  noted  frontiersman,  originally  from  Tennessee, 
who  early  began  trading  in  New  Mexico.  From  there  he  went  to 
California  in  1829  and  came  to  Oregon  overland  with  a  few  others 
in  1834,  driving  a  band  of  horses.  One  of  his  companions  on 
this  trip  was  the  famous  Oregon  agitator,  Hall  J.  Kelley,  of 
Boston.  Kelley  had  expected  to  bring  out  a  colony  to  Oregon 
in  1832;  but  failing  to  secure  colonists,  he  finally  started  on  his 
own  account,  going  to  Mexico,  thence  to  California,  and  finally  with 
Young  to  Oregon. 


THE  COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  163 

It  gave  a  great  stimulus  to  stock  raising,  for 
which  the  country  was  specially  adapted,  pro- 
moted the  prosperity  of  the  settlers  already 
there,  and,  by  the  reports  which  soon  traveled 
eastward,  caused  many  people  in  the  Mississippi 
valley  to  look  with  longing  eyes  toward  this 
land  of  ease  and  plenty,  thus  preparing  the 
way  for  the  colonizing  movement  which  was 
about  to  begin. 

Mr.  Slacum  returned  to  the  United  States  Renewal  of 
and  made  his  report   to  the  government.     In  ^"^^son 

^     ^  *^  ^  agitation  in 

December,  1837,  this  document,  so  interesting  Congress 
as  the  earliest  particular  account  of  the  Willa- 
mette settlement,  was  presented  to  Congress 
and  immediately  aroused  great  interest.  One 
of  the  points  which  Slacum  insisted  upon 
was  that  the  United  States  must  never  accept  a 
northern  boundary  for  Oregon  that  would  give 
to  the  British  government  the  great  harbor  of 
Puget  Sound.  In  other  words,  his  idea  was 
that  we  should  hold  out  sturdily  for  the  49th 
parallel,  already  thrice  offered,  and  refuse 
utterly  to  take  Great  Britain's  offer  of  the 
Columbia  boundary.  This  doubtless  strength- 
ened the  determination  of  a  few  leaders  in 
Congress  to  secure  a  law  for  the  military 
occupation  of  the  Columbia,  similar  to  that 
which   Mr.  Floyd  tried   to  obtain  fifteen  years  ^ 

earlier.      At    all     events,    the    Oregon    ques-   .„.  l/ 
tion  now  came  up    once  more   and  remained 


l64      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

before  Congress,  in  some  form,  during  the 
succeeding  ten  years,  till  Oregon  was  effectively 
settled  by  the  pioneers,  a  favorable  treaty  obtained 
from  Great  Britain,  and  an  American  territory 
created  on  the  Pacific  coast. 
Linn's  bill  Of  the  many  men  who  took  part  in  the  Ore- 

jrnurrrind  §^^  discussions,  between  the  years  1837  and 
June,  1838  1843,  none  was  more  active  or  determined  than 
Dr.  Lewis  F.  Litm,  senator  from  Missouri. 
He  believed  thoroughly  in  American  rights 
on  the  Pacific,  was  inclined  to  belittle  the 
British  claims,  and  insisted  on  the  urgent  ne- 
cessity of  taking  military  possession  of  the 
Columbia  River.  He  proposed  also  to  estab- 
lish a  territorial  government  for  Oregon.  His 
first  bill  for  these  purposes  was  presented  to 
the  Senate  in  January,  1838,  and  in  June  Dr. 
Linn  brought  in  a  report  on  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion. This  was  a  lengthy  document,  containing 
a  history  of  the  events  on  which  our  right  to 
the  Oregon  country  rested,  and  trying  to  show 
that  the  British  claim  was  not  well  founded. 
In  these  respects  it  differed  little  from  the 
earlier  report  by  Floyd ;  yet  on  many  points 
Linn  was  able  to  give  information  never  before 
presented  to  the  country.  For  example,  he 
described  the  road  to  Oregon,  which  had  re- 
cently been  traversed  by  two  women  in  the 
Whitman-Spalding  party.  Many  brief  docu- 
ments  containing   valuable    information    were 


THE   COLONIZING    MOVEMENT  165 

printed  as  appendices  to  the  report,  which  thus 
became  a  sort  of  text-book  for  the  study  of  the 
Oregon  question.  Thousands  of  copies  were  - 
printed,  and  in  the  next  few  years  they  were 
distributed  all  over  the  country,  especially 
through  the  West,  with  the  result  that,  num- 
bers of  men  soon  became  interested  in  "  our 
territory  on  the  Pacific,"  as  Oregon  was  fre- 
quently called/ 

Other  influences  were  working  to  the  same  jason  Lee's 
effect.  Jason  Lee,  the .  superintendent  of  the  ^.^amhaiJ^^ 
Willamette  mission,  returned  to  the  United  party 
States  in  the  summer  of  1838  "to  obtain  addi- 
tional facilities  to  carry  on  .  .  .  the  missionary 
work  in  Oregon  territory."  He  traveled  over- 
land with  a  few  companions,  passing  through 
the  frontier  settlements  of  Missouri  and  Illinois, 
where  he  accepted  invitations  to  lecture  and  to 
preach  in  the  churches.  A  principal  aim  was 
to  raise  money  for  his  missionary  enterprise, 
but  incidentally  Lee  aroused  a  good  deal  of 
enthusiasm  for  the  far-off  country,  so  rich  in 
natural  resources,  where  he  had  lived  during  the 
preceding  four  years,  almost  within  sight  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  At  Peoria,  Illinois,  he  left  one 
of  two  Indian  boys  who  had  gone  east  with 
him,  and  perhaps  partly  on  that  account  a 
special  interest  was  aroused  at  that  place.     In 

1  When  the  pioneers  began  to  go  to  Oregon  copies  of  Linn's 
Report  were  among  the  very  few  books  taken  across  the  plains. 


l66     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  following  spring  Mr.  Thomas  J.  Farnham 
of  Peoria,  with  a  company  of  fourteen  men, 
undertook  the  overland  trip  to  Oregon.  He 
failed  to  keep  his  party  together,  and  finished 
the  journey  with  but  three  associates.  Farn- 
ham visited  the  Whitman  mission,  and  later 
the  Willamette  settlement,  after  which  he  took 
ship  to  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  to  California. 
On  his  return  to  the  United  States  he  pub- 
lished popular  accounts  of  the  Oregon  country, 
as  well  as  of  California,  which  were  widely  read 
and  helped  to  swell  the  rising  tide  of  interest  in 
the  far  west. 

The  settlers  in  the  Willamette  valley  in- 
trusted Farnham  with  a  memorial  to  Congress, 
asking  that  the  protection  of  the  United  States 
government  might  be  extended  over  them. 
Lee  had  carried  with  him  from  Oregon  a  simi- 
lar petition,  which  was  presented  to  Congress 
in  January,  1839,  by  Senator  Linn.  It  spoke 
of  the  fertility  of  the  Willamette  and  Umpqua 
valleys,  the  unsurpassed  facilities  for  stock 
raising,  the  mild  and  pleasant  climate  of  west- 
ern Oregon,  and  the  exceptional  opportunities 
for  commerce.  A  special  point  was  made  of 
the  growing  trade  with  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
whose  people  needed  the  beef  and  flour  pro- 
duced in  the  Willamette  valley,  and  would 
soon  be  able  to  exchange  for  them  coffee,  sugar, 
and  other  tropical   products   required   by  the 


THE   COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  16/ 

Oregon  settlers.^  "  We  flatter  ourselves,"  say 
the  thirty-six  signers  of  the  memorial,  "  that  we 
are  the  germ  of  a  great  state.  .  .  .  The  country 
must  populate.  The  Congress  of  the  United 
States  must  say  by  whom.  The  natural  re- 
sources of  the  country,  with  a  well-judged 
civil  code,  will  invite  a  good  community. 
But  a  good  community  will  hardly  emigrate 
to  a  country  which  promises  no  protection 
to  life  or  property.  .  .  ."  Lee  personally 
wrote  a  letter  to  Congressman  Caleb  Cushing 
of  Massachusetts,  in  which  he  reenforced  the 
statements  made  in  the  petition.^  "  It  may  be 
thought,"  he  says,  "  that  Oregon  is  of  little  im- 

1  The  discovery  of  these  islands  by  Captain  Cook  in  January, 
1778,  proved  of  great  importance  in  Pacific  coast  history.  Their 
situation  made  them  the  natural  calling  place  for  all  vessels  com- 
ing up  the  coast  from  Cape  Horn,  and  also  for  ships  crossing  the 
Pacific  to  or  from  China.  When  discovered,  the  several  islands 
of  the  group  were  occupied  by  barbarous  tribes,  each  independent 
of  all  the  others.  About  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
arose  a  great  chief  called  Kamehameha,  who  succeeded  in  uniting 
most  of  the  tribes,  and  in  opening  trade  with  the  owners  of  ships 
calling  at  the  Islands.  A  prosperous  era  now  began.  In  1820 
American  missionaries  established  themselves  at  Honolulu,  and 
soon  this  place  became  a  center  of  civilization  affecting  all  the 
tribes.  The  relations  of  the  Hawaiian  missionaries  with  the  Ameri- 
can people  in  Oregon,  and  afterward  in  California,  was  always 
very  close.  Visits  were  occasionally  made  to  the  Pacific  coast, 
and,  as  stated  in  the  last  chapter,  the  Hawaiian  missionaries  pre- 
sented those  on  the  Columbia  with  a  small  printing-press,  the  first 
ever  used  on  the  Pacific  coast  of  the  United  States. 

2  Cushing  made  a  report  to  the  House  of  Representatives 
in  1839  which  in  some  respects  supplemented  the  report  made 
by  Linn  to  the  Senate  the  year  before. 


l68      A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

.    portance ;  but  depend  upon  it,  sir,  there  is  the 
germ   of  a  great  state."     The  Oregon  people 
desired  from   Congress    two  things :   first,  the 
,\  protection  of  the   laws  of  the  United  States; 
/      second,  a  guarantee  that  they  might  keep  the 
lands  already  taken  up  by  them.     Linn,  Gush- 
ing,  and  other  men  made  a  faithful  ejEfort  to 
obtain  such  laws ;  but  the  prevailing  sentiment 
was  against  them,  and   no   bill   passed  either 
house  of  Congress  till   1843.^ 
The  Oregon        Wc  havc  uow  to  dcscribc  a  movement  aris- 
Em^grruo^n    ^^^S  outsidc  of  Congrcss  in  the  summer  of  1838, 
Society;  its   wliicli  added  largely  to  the  effect  of  the  agita- 
purpose"       tion  bcguu  by  Linn  and  Cushing.     This  was 
the  so-called   Oregon   Provisional    Emigration 
Society,  organized  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  in 
August,  1838.    The  society  was  not  a  mission- 
ary  organization   purely,  though   most   of   its 
leading   members  belonged    to  the    Methodist 
denomination.      Its  aim   was  "  to  prepare  the 
way  for  the  Christian  settlement  of   Oregon." 
It  proposed  to  enlist  several  hundred  Christian 
families,  send   them   to  Oregon    overland,  and 

1  It  was,  indeed,  a  very  difficult  matter  to  draw  up  a  bill  for  the 
extension  of  our  national  authority  over  Oregon  without  violating 
either  the  letter  or  the  spirit  of  the  treaty  of  joint  occupation. 
Many  members  of  Congress  refused  to  support  the  bills  presented 
by  Linn  and  others  because  it  was  feared  their  passage  might 
embroil  us  with  Great  Britain.  See  on  this  point  the  valuable 
paper  of  Dr.  J.  R.  Wilson  on  '^  The  Oregon  Question,"  published 
in  the  Quarterly  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  March  and 
September,  1900, 


THE   COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  169 

encourage  them  to  make  use  of  all  the  advan- 
tages for  stock  raising,  commerce,  fishing,  etc., 
that  the  country  afforded.  But  this  was  not 
to  be  the  only  aim  of  the  settlement,  for  which 
the  founders  of  the  society  had  "  nobler  pur- 
poses in  view."  They  believed  it  might  be  pos- 
sible to  Christianize  the  Indians,  educate  them, 
and  make  them  citizens  of  a  new  common- 
wealth in  which  they  were  to  have  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  white  citizens.  The  theory 
was  that  while  the  Indians  east  of  the  Rockies 
had  already  become  hopelessly  degraded,  those 
in  the  Oregon  country  were  still  mainly  sound, 
and  if  taken  in  time  might  be  saved.  "V" 

The  society  published  a  monthly  magazine  The 
called  at  first  The  Oregonia^i.  The  phrase  ^^^soman 
and  Indian  s  Advocate  was  afterward  added 
to  the  title.  It  was  edited  by  Rev.  Frederick 
P.  Tracy,  of  Lynn,  Massachusetts,  who  was 
also  the  secretary  of  the  society.  In  the  num- 
bers of  this  magazine  we  find  a  large  amount 
of  information  concerning  the  Oregon  of 
seventy  years  ago.^     The  editor  grew  eloquent 

1  Apparently  only  eleven  numbers  were  printed.  It  begins 
with  October,  1838,  and  ends  with  August,  1839.  ^'^^^'s>  of  this 
paper  are  very  rare.  The  writer  has  seen  and  used  two :  the 
first  is  in  the  State  Historical  Library  of  Wisconsin,  at  Madison, 
the  other  in  the  private  library  of  Hon.  F.  V.  Holman  of  Port- 
land, Oregon.  Doubtless  there  are  others,  especially  in  Massa- 
chusetts. It  contains  Linn^s  and  Cushing's  reports,  a  review  of 
Parker's  book,  letters  from  missionaries,  and  other  matter  con- 
cerning Oregon. 


I/O     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

in  the  effort  to  set  before  his  readers  the  pos- 
sibilities of  this  great  country.  He  called  it 
"  the  future  home  of  the  power  which  is  to  rule 
the  Pacific,  .  .  .  the  theater  on  which  mankind 
are  to  act  out  a  part  not  yet  performed  in  the 
drama  of  life  and  government."  Oregon's  "  far- 
spreading  seas  and  mighty  rivers  [were]  to 
teem  with  the  commerce  of  an  empire  " ;  her 
"  boundless  prairies  and  verdant  vales  [were] 
to  feel  the  steps  of  civilized  millions ;  .  .  . "  — 
Such  enthusiasm,  supported  by  much  valu- 
able information,  must  have  produced  consid- 
erable effect,  since  the  magazine  reached 
a  circulation  of  nearly  eight  hundred  copies. 
But  in  addition  to  this  the  society  also  sent  an 
agent  into  the  western  states  to  enlist  emigrants, 
who  were  to  go  to  Oregon  in  the  spring  of 
1840.  Nothing  came  of  the  colonizing  scheme, 
although  the  plans  had  been  carefully  worked 
out.  It  is  a  most  interesting  fact  that  the  society 
had  gained  the  good  will  of  the  Hudson's  Bay 
Company  in  London,  and  their  promise  to  pro- 
vide the  Oregon  colony  with  merchandise  at 
rates  to  be  agreed  upon.  The  organization 
appears  to  have  dropped  into  the  background 
by  the  end  of  the  year  1839.  But  by  this  time 
there  were  little  knots  of  men  in  various  parts 
of  the  United  States, —  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Michigan,  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Missouri, — 
who  thought  of  forming  emigration  societies  to 


THE   COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  1 71 

colonize  Oregon.      There  was  some  delay   in 
carr3dng  out  these  plans ;  but  the  idea  had  be 
gun  to  take  hold  of  the  popular  mind,  and  a 
few  years  would  see  the  wagon  trains  gathering 
for  the  wonderful  journey  across  the  continent. 

We  left  Jason  Lee  busily  at  work  in  the  Lee's  mis- 
eastern  states  raising  money  and  men  for  his  mis-  Joionkation 
sionary  reenforcement.  He  was  remarkably  sue-  scheme 
cessful,  securing,  with  the  help  of  the  Methodist 
board,  the  large  sum  of  forty-two  thousand  dol- 
lars. He  got  together  a  company  of  over  fifty 
persons  —  men,  women,  and  children  —  with 
whom  he  sailed  from  New  York  in  the  ship  Lati- 
sanne  on  the  loth  of  October,  1839.  In  the  fol- 
lowing May  they  reached  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  from  Hawaii,  and  on  the  ist  of  June 
all  were  safely  landed  at  Vancouver.  Here  the 
party  separated.  One  of  the  ministers,  Rev.  J. 
H.  Frost,  was  sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia ; 
Rev.  A.  F.  Waller  took  charge  of  a  station  at 
Willamette  Falls ;  two  others,  Rev.  W.  W.  Cone 
and  Rev.  Gustavus  Hines,  went  to  the  Umpqua 
to  begin  a  new  mission,  which  did  not  succeed ; 
Mr.  Brewer  and  Dr.  Babcock,  laymen,  reen- 
forced  the  station  at  the  Dalles ;  and  Rev.  J. 
P.  Richmond,  with  his  family  and  Miss  Clark 
as  teacher,  went  up  to  the  station  already  begun 
near  Fort  Nesqually  on  Puget  Sound.  The 
rest  of  them  passed  up  the  Willamette  to  the 
central  mission  near  the  present  capital  city  of 


172      A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Salem,  where  some  took  lands,  and  helped  to 
change  this  establishment  into  the  true  Ameri- 
can colony  it  now  became.  About  the  same 
time  a  number  of  Rocky  Mountain  trappers 
settled  in  the  valley,  and  still  further  increased 
the  American  influence.  The  colony  now  con- 
tained more  than  a  hundred  people. 

In  the  year  1841  Oregon  received  a  visit 
from  Lieutenant  Charles  Wilkes,  commander 
of  the  Pacific  Exploring  Squadron  sent  out  by 
the  United  States  government  in  1838.^  Wilkes 
took  pains  to  travel  through  all  the  settled  por- 
tions of  the  Willamette -valley,  and  gives  a  de- 
tailed account  of  what  he  found  there.  Near 
the  mouth  of  the  river  was  a  group  of  young 
men  building  a  small  vessel,  which  they  called 
The  Star  of  Oregon,  and  which  was  after- 
ward taken  to  San  Francisco  and  exchanged 
for  cattle.  At  the  falls  were  Waller's  mission 
and  a  trading,  or  rather  salmon-packing,  station 
of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  At  a  place 
called  Champoeg  there  were  four  or  five  cabins, 
in  one  of  which  Wilkes  was  entertained  by  an 
old  seaman,  named  Johnson,  who  had  fought  in 
the  glorious  naval  battle  between  the  Constittc- 

1  Two  other  noteworthy  visitors  to  Oregon  during  this  year 
were  Sir  'George  Simpson,  governor  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, who  was  on  his  trip  around  the  world,  and  a  French  diplo- 
mat, Duflot  de  Mofras,  at  that  time  connected  with  the  French 
legation  in  Mexico.  Each  wrote  a  book,  in  which  some  account 
of  Oregon  is  contained. 


THE  COLONIZING   MOVEMENT  173 

Hon  and  the  Guerriere}  Farther  up  the  river 
were  observed  "  many  small  farms  of  from  fifty 
to  one  hundred  acres,  belonging  to  the  old  ser- 
vants of  the  company,  Canadians,  who  [had] 
settled  here ;  they  all  [appeared]  very  comfort- 
able and  thriving."  Twelve  miles  above  Cham- 
poeg  dwelt  the  Catholic  priest.  Father  Blanchet, 
"  settled  among  his  flock,  .  .  .  doing  great  good 
to  the  settlers  in  ministering  to  their  temporal 
as  well  as  spiritual  wants."  The  traveler 
passed  a  few  more  farms  before  reaching  the 
first  of  the  buildings  belonging  to  the  Metho- 
dist mission.  Wilkes  was  entertained  by  Mr. 
Abernethy,  whose  family  was  one  of  the  four 
living  in  the  "  hospital "  erected  by  Dr.  White 
—  "a  well-built  frame  edifice  with  a  double 
piazza  in  front,  .  .  .  perhaps  the  best  building 
in  Oregon."  A  ride  of  five  miles  brought  him 
to  "the  mill,"  ^  where  he  found  "the  air  and  stir 
of  a  new  secular  settlement ;  .  .  .  the  mission- 
aries [had]  made  individual  selections  of  lands  to 
the  amount  of  one  thousand  acres  each,  in  the 
prospect  of  the  whole  country  falling  under  our 
laws."  He  was  convinced  that  they  were  now 
more  interested  in  building  up  the  country  than 
in  laboring  further  among  the  few  remaining 
Indians.     Neither  did   they  care  to  leave  the 

^  Johnson  afterward  built  the  first  house  in  the  city  of  Port- 
land. 

2  This  was  near  the  present  site  of  Salem. 


174     A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

Willamette   valley    in    order   to    find   a   more 
hopeful  mission  field,  but  preferred  to  remain 
here  and  direct  the  future  development  of  the 
new  colony  they  had  done  so  much  to  create. 
Among  these  people  Wilkes  heard  much  about 
a  plan  to  establish  a  provisional  governn)ent  for 
Oregon.     This  he  discouraged,  believing  that 
there  were  as  yet  too  few  American  settlers  to 
make- the  experiment  a  success. 
Relations     /     Wilkcs  fouud  somc  of  his  countrymen  dis- 
Hudson's  '    P^^^^  *^  complain  of  the   Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
Bay  pany ;  but  he  appears  to  have  given  little  heed 

Company  ^^  thcsc  muttcriugs,  kuowiug  that  there  was 
no  serious  cause  of  trouble  between  the  two 
nationalities.  In  a  very  real  sense  the  Ameri- 
can settlers  were  dependent  upon  the  fur  com- 
pany, and  owed  to  it  much  of  the  prosperity 
they  enjoyed.  McLoughlin  generously  assisted 
the  newcomers  with  stock  and  supplies,  ad- 
vancing in  this  way  large  sums  in  the  aggre- 
\  /  gate  ;  the  fort  was  the  regular  market  for  all 
I  the  wheat  and  other  surplus  produce  raised  in 

the  valley,  and  its  stores  furnished  all  the  gro- 
ceries, clothing,  shoes,  and  other  manufactured 
goods  which  brought  homelike  comforts  to 
every  little  cabin,  and  luxury  to  a  few  of  the 
more  pretentious  dwellings  in  the  settlement. 
The  fur  company,  too,  was  the  wall  of  defense 
against  the  Indians  of  the  entire  country  with- 
out which  Oregon  could  not  have  been  settled 


THE   COLONIZING  MOVEMENT  175 

when  it  was  by  feeble  parties  of  missionaries 
and  others  from  the  United  States.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  British  traders  neg- 
lected to  look  sharply  after  their  own  commer- 
cial and  national  interests  ;  but  these  were  not 
often  directly  opposed  to  the  interests  of  the 
settlers.  Moreover,  the  officers  of  the  company 
in  Oregon  —  McLoughlin,  Douglas,  Ogden,  and 
most  of  the  others  —  were  liberal  and  humane 
men,  inclined  to  deal  fairly  with  the  Americans 
who  had  at  least  as  good  a  right  as  themselves 
to  be  in  the  country.^  Therefore,  in  summing 
up  the  causes  bringing  about  the  colonization 
of  the  Pacific  Northwest  we  must  not  omit  to 
mention  the  presence  on  the  Columbia  of  the 
great  British  trading  establishment,  which  in 
most  respects  served  the  purpose  of  protection 
and  help  to  settlers  as  well  as  an  American  fort 
could  have  done. 

The   year  after   Wilkes's   visit,  Oregon    re-  Dr.  white's 
ceived  the  first  considerable  party  of  the  emi-  company  of 

^  ^         -^  120  settlers, 

grants  coming  from  the  United  States  by  the  1842 
overland  route.      Dr.   Elijah  White,   who  had 
arrived  in  the  country  in  1837,  returned  to  the 
East  by  sea  in  1840.     Soon  after  this  the  gov- 
ernment began  to  think  of  sending  an  Indian 

^  They  must  have  known,  also,  that  if  serious  offense  had  been 
given  to  the  American  government  in  the  ill  treatment  of  their 
citizens  in  Oregon,  the  government  of  Great  Britain  would  be 
placed  at  a  disadvai^age  in  the  contest  for  territory  in  Oregon.  i 


176      A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

agent  to  Oregon,  and  early  in  the  year  1842 
White  was  appointed  to  this  position,  with  in- 
structions to  take  out  as  many  emigrants  as 
could  be  got  together  in  the  West.  White 
delivered  lectures  in  various  places,  interviewed 
pioneers  in  Missouri  and  elsewhere,  and  soon 
had  a  company  of  about  one  hundred  and 
twenty  men,  who  started  from  Independence, 
Missouri,  in  May,  and  made  a  successful  jour- 
ney across  the  mountains.  The  party  took 
wagons  as  far  as  Fort  Hall,  using  pack  horses 
from  this  place  to  the  Columbia.^ 
The  Ash-  While  this  company  was  on  its  way  across 

the  plains.  Lord  Ashburton  and  Daniel  Web- 
ster were  discussing  at  Washington  all  the  ques- 
tions remaining  unsettled  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  ;  and  on  the  9th  of 
August,  they  signed  what  is  called  the  Ash- 
burton Treaty.  Americans  had  hoped  that  the 
Oregon  question  might  be  settled  at  this  time ; 
but  in  the  negotiations  it  was  soon  found  that 
Great  Britain  was  not  yet  prepared  to  make 
concessions,  and  the  treaty  omitted  all  mention 
of  the  matter. 

^  About  the  same  time  the  government  sent  out  Lieutenant 
John  C.  Frdmont  to  explore  a  route  into  the  Rocky  Mountains. 
This  was  the  first  of  his  "^  path-finding  "  expeditions. 


burton 
Treaty,  i 


f 


CHAPTER   Xir 

THE    GREAT    MIGRATION 

Many  people  were  grievously  disappointed  at  The  Oregc 

situat 
1842 


the  outcome  of  the  Webster-Ashburton  nego-  ^'^"^^^°"  ^" 


tiation,  because  of  the  silence  of  the  treaty  con- 
cerning Oregon.  Yet,  looking  back  from  this 
distance,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  any  serious 
evil  could  result  from  a  further  delay  in  settling 
the  question.  It  had  already  waited  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  during  most  of  which  time  Ameri- 
cans had  no  interests  in  the  resfion  west  of  the 
Rockies.  Now  they  not  only  had  the  begin- 
nings of  an  actual  settlement  in  the  Willa- 
mette valley,  but  everything  foreshadowed  such 
a  large  emigration  to  the  Columbia  that  our 
position  would  soon  be  much  stronger  than 
that  of  our  adversary.  The  situation  was  a 
little  like  that  on  the  Mississippi  prior  to  the 
Louisiana  Purchase;  and  just  as  Jefferson 
wanted  time  to  plant  strong  American  com- 
munities on  the  banks  of  this  river  before 
forcing  an  issue  with  France,  so  far-sighted 
statesmen  of  forty  years  later  were  glad  to 
see  the  pioneers  preparing  for  the  journey  to 

N  177 


178      A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


White's 
letter 


Oregon,    because    this    would    strengthen    the 
American  claim  as  against  Great  Britain/ 
The  Certainly  at  the  time  the  Ashburton  Treaty 

prospect  for    ^^^  signed  AmcHcan  prospects  were  briehten- 

emigration  c>  r         r  o 

in  1843.  ing.  In  the  same  month  (August,  1842),  Dr. 
White  wrote  a  letter  from  the  mountains  in 
which  he  assured  the  frontiersmen  that  the 
Oregon  colony  would  prove  successful,  that 
his  company  would  reach  the  Willamette  in 
safety,  and  that  a  good  pilot  '^  could  be  procured 
to  bring  out  a  company  the  following  spring. 

This  was  doubtless  one  of  the  causes  inducing 
the  pioneers  to  prepare  for  the  overland  march 
in  1843.  But  there  were  many  others.  The 
long  agitation  in  Congress,  reports,  speeches, 
newspaper  articles,  and  letters  had  given  the  pio- 
neering class  considerable  information  about  the 
Oregon  country.  They  knew  that  the  Willa- 
mette valley  was  a  favored  land  for  the  farmer 
and  stockman,  possessing  a  rich  soil,  mild  cli- 


Other 
causes; 
the  Oregon 
country 


^  President  Tyler,  writing  three  years  later  (October  7,  1845) 
to  Mr.  Calhoun,  says  that  he  hesitated  to  take  up  the  Oregon 
negotiation  after  the  treaty  of  1842,  "believing  that  under  the 
convention  of  joint  occupation  we  stood  on  the  most  favorable 
footing.  Our  population  was  already  finding  its  way  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  and  a  few  years  would  see  an  American  Settlement 
on  the  Columbia  sufficiently  strong  to  defend  itself  and  to  protect 
the  rights  of  the  U.  States  to  the  territory.'^ 

2  This  term,  ordinarily  used  to  designate  a  person  who  steers 
ships,  or  directs  their  course  especially  into  harbors,  was  com- 
monly employed  sixty  years  ago  by  travelers  in  the  Rocky 
Mountains  as  an  equivalent  for  the  term  "  guide." 


THE    GREAT   MIGRATION  1 79 

mate,  and  such  a  combination  of  prairie  and 
forest,  with  springs  of  pure  water  everywhere, 
as  would  make  the  opening  of  new  farms  pecul- 
iarly easy  and  pleasant.  In  the  western  states, 
the  settlers  had  suffered  much  for  the  lack 
of  easy  transportation,  their  crops  bringing 
scarcely  enough  to  pay  for  the  labor  expended 
upon  them ;  but  in  Oregon  they  would  have  a 
navigable  river  at  their  doors,  and  the  ocean 
but  a  short  distance  away.  The  market  for 
grain  was  said  to  be  good,  cattle  were  reported 
to  be  worth  four  times  what  they  were  bringing 
in  western  Missouri,  and  in  each  case  the  cost 
of  production  was  very  much  less.  Oregon,  also, 
had  other  resources^aside  from  these  exceptional 
agricultural  advantagesS.  Her  streams  were  full 
of  the  finest  salmon,  wmN^  might  be  packed 
and  shipped  at  a  good  profit ;  splendid  forests 
of  fir  and  pine,  extending  down  to  the  water's 
edge,  invited  the  establishment  of  lumber  mills  ; 
and  unlimited  water  power  was  at  hand  for  all 
manufacturing  purposes.  Such  a  combination 
of  elements,  the  pioneers  thought,  would  insure 
the  development  of  a  prosperous  state  on  the 
shores  of  the  Pacific. 

For  several  years,  the   western   people    had  "Hard 
experienced  continuous  "  hard  times,"  with  low  \^"^^^'" 

^  ^  ^  slavery, 

prices  for  everything  they  had  to  sell,  and  al-  the  spirit  of 
most   no  opportunity  to  improve    their   condi-  patHoUsm 
tion  either  in  farming  or  other  business.     The 


l80     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

spirit  of  unrest  on  these  accounts  was  wide- 
spread. Moreover,  many  persons  in  the  south- 
western states  were  beginning  to  feel  very 
keenly  the  evils  of  slavery,  which  was  causing 
violent  agitation  throughout  the  country,  and 
were  anxious  to  remove  their  families  beyond 
the  reach  of  its  influence.  But  underneath  all 
other  motives  was  a  distinctly  American  love 
of  adventure,  the  product  of  generations  of 
pioneering.  It  was  the  spirit  of  the  frontiers- 
men of  the  olden  time :  the  longing  to  open 
new  "  trails,"  to  subdue  strange  lands,  and 
make  new  settlements.  True,  men  had  abun- 
dant opportunity  to  "  move"  without  crossing 
the  western  mountains.  They  might  go 
from  Ohio  to  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  or  Iowa; 
from  Kentucky  to  western  Missouri,  Arkan- 
sas, or  Texas.  But,  while  thousands  were  each 
year  doing  this,  such  migrations  after  all  were 
hardly  satisfying  to  those  remembering  the 
deeds  of  pioneer  ancestors  who  had  traversed 
the  '.'  Wilderness  Road "  into  Kentucky,  and 
settled  in  a  wild  re2:ion  amid  constant  dano^ers 
and  alarms  from  hostile  savao^es.  The  stories 
of  Boone,  Kenton,  Clark,  and  scores  of  others 
were  still  recited  around  frontier  firesides  by 
old  men  and  women  who  spoke  out  of  their 
own  vivid  recollections  of  these  border  heroes. 
Such  tales  fired  the  imaginations  of  the  young, 
and  prepared  a  generation  of  men  for  a  new 


THE    GREAT   MIGRATION 


l8l 


feat  of  pioneering,  more  arduous  in  some 
respects  than  that  of  seventy  years  before. 
And  what  an  alkning  prospect  was  theirs !     A 


Sweetwater  Gap,  on  the  Oregon  Trail. 

journey  of  two  thousand  miles  through  an  un- 
inhabited wilderness ;  the  crossing  of  a  vaster 
system  of  mountains  than  any  of  which  the 
fathers  knew ;  majestic  snow  peaks,  deep,  dark 
canons   through  which   the   rivers  rushed  and 


l82      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Collecting 

the 

companies 


/ 


ly 


i  roared  in  their  headlong  progress  toward  the 
j  west ;  tedious  stretches  of  barren  plain  ;  valleys 
I   of  enchanting  loveliness ;  and  at  last  the  noble 
river   and    the    great,   strange,    inspiring   sea ! 
;  Add  to  all  this  the  belief,  which  many  held, 
i  that  their  going  to  Oregon  would  benefit  the 
United  States  in  its  contest  with  Great  Britain 
over  territorial  rights,  and  we  have  a  combina- 
'^  tion  of  motives  powerful    enough  to  set  hun- 
dreds of  pioneers  in  motion. 

The  approach  of  spring  (1843)  found  num- 
bers of  men  in  various  sections  of  the  country 
preparing  for  the  march.  The  companies  had 
been  organizing  for  many  months.  Correspond- 
ence committees  in  western  Missouri  received 
names  of  intending  emigrants  as  early  as  Sep- 
tember, 1842.  An  emigration  agent  from  St. 
Louis,  Mr.  J.  M.  Shivley,  spent  the  winter  in 
Washington,  kept  the  people  of  the  West  in- 
formed as  to  the  progress  of  legislation  respect- 
ing Oregon,  and  tried  to  induce  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  provide  a  company  of  troops  to  es- 
cort the  emigrants.  Senator  Linn  once  more 
brought  up  his  bill  for  the  establishment  of  a 
territorial  government  and  the  granting  of 
lands  to  settlers.  It  passed  the  Senate  on  the  3d 
>  of  February  by  the  close  vote  of  twenty-four  to 
twenty-two.  Although  afterward  killed  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  the  enthusiasm  and 
hope  aroused  by  the  passage  of  the  bill  through 


THE  GREAT   MIGRATION  183 

the  Senate  had  much  to  do  with  starting  new  re- 
cruits to  the  place  of  rendezvous.  So  did,  also, 
the  public  meetings  held  in  various  places,  like 
Columbus  and  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  and  Spring- 
field, Illinois,  to  discuss  the  Oregon  question 
and  to  adopt  resolutions  urging  Congress  to 
pass  the  Linn  bill.  A  few  men  of  large  influ- 
ence in  the  western  communities  had  decided 
to  emigrate,  and  they  undertook  to  persuade 
others  by  means  of  newspaper  articles,  personal 
interviews,  and  public  addresses.  In  Bloom- 
ington,  Iowa,  the  entire  population  appears  to 
have  been  affected  by  what  men  called  the 
"  Oregon  fever  " ;  they  held  several  public  meet- 
ings, organized  an  emigrating  party,  adopted 
rules  concerning  equipment,  the  route  to  be 
taken,  and  other  details  of  preparation  for  the 
journey. 

Independence,  Missouri,  had  for  some  years  Organizing 
been  the  general  outfitting  place  for  companies  ^^[^^^ 
of  traders,  trappers,  and  emigrants  going  to  the 
far  West.  The  village  lay  a  few  miles  from 
the  Missouri  River,  near  the  present  site  of 
Kansas  City,  and  was  the  radiating  point  for 
many  wilderness  highways,  including  the  great  ^" 

Santa  Fe  and  Oregon  "  trails."  All  the  small 
parties  from  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  and  Iowa,  as  well  as  those  from 
Missouri,  gathered  at  this  place.  By  the  mid- 
dle of  May  many  had  arrived,  driving  in  from 


\ 


184      A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

all  directions  two,  three,  a  dozen  or  twenty 
wagons  at  a  time,  with  loose  stock  following 
behind  the  train.  They  now  made  arrange- 
ments for  the  start,  adopting  a  body  of  rules, 
and  choosing  a  pilot  to  conduct  them  through 
the  mountains.  The  pioneers  were  then  ready 
to  move  forward. 
Peter  H.  Probably  the  leading  man  of  this  emigration 

thYsu^t-       ^^^  Peter  H.   Burnett,  a    young  lawyer  from 
Elm  Grove     Platte  Couuty,  Missouri,  who  had  done  much 
to  get  the  company  together.     He  kept  a  diary 
during  the  course  of  the  journey,  and  on  reach- 
ing the  Willamette  wrote  a  number  of  letters 
^  for  the  New  York  Herald,  giving  an  account  of 

the  trip.  Looking  back  from  his  far  western 
home  to  the  time  of  beginning  their  march 
from  Missouri,  and  realizing  both  its  difficulties 
and  the  significance  of  what  had  been  done,  he 
says:  "On  the  2 2d  of  May  we  began  one  of 
the  most  arduous  and  important  trips  under- 
taken in  modern  times."  The  first  camp,  at 
Elm  Grove,  on  account  of  its  strange  pictur- 
esqueness,  produced  a  strong  impression  upon 
the  mind  of  Burnett,  as  it  probably  did  on 
others.  "  I  have  never  witnessed  a  scene,"  he 
says,  "more  beautiful  than  this.  Elm  Grove 
stands  in  a  wide,  gently  undulating  prairie. 
The  moon  shed  her  silvery  beams  on  the  white 
sheets  of  sixty  wagons ;  a  thousand  head  of 
cattle  grazed  upon  the  surrounding  plain  ;  fifty 


THE    GREAT   MIGRATION  1 85 

campfires  sent  up  their  brilliant  flames,  and 
the  sound  of  the  sweet  violin  was  heard  in  the 
tents.     All  was  stir  and  excitement." 

By  the   time  they  had  crossed   the   Kansas  Electing 
River  (June  i')  a  o^ood  many  others  had  joined  ^f^^^""^' 

\-'  ^         c>  J  J  division  of 

the  company,  which  now  numbered  one  hun-  the 
dred  and  twenty  wagons,  nearly  one  thousand  ^^"^p^"^ 
persons  of  all  ages,  and  more  than  five  times 
as  many  animals.  Stopping  to  complete  the 
organization,  Peter  H.  Burnett  was  chosen  cap- 
tain, J.  W.  Nesmith  orderly  sergeant,  and  nine 
others  'desig^nated  to  form  a  council.  A  few 
days  later,  however,  Burnett  resigned,  and  the 
company  was  divided  into  two  parts.  Each 
division  had  sixty  wagons ;  but  one  was  com- 
posed mainly  of  those  who  had  few  or  no  loose 
catde,  and  called  "  the  light  column  " ;  while  the 
other  contained  the  owners  of  the  herds,  large 
and  small,  with  which  this  emigration  was  en- 
cumbered, and  took  the  name  of  "  the  cow-col- 
umn."    There  was  a  separate  captain  for  each. 

The  leader  of  the  second  division  was  Cap-  "ADay 
tain  Tesse  _Applegat£,  a  man  whom  the  people  ^ow- '''' 
of  Oregon  delight  to  honor  as  one  of  the  noblest  Column," 
of  the  pioneers.     He  is  remembered  as  a  states-  jesse^^'^""" 
man,  a  surveyor,  a  pathfinder  through  the  south-  Appiegate 
ern  mountains,  and  in  general  a  leader  in  all 
the  varied  activities  of  frontier  life  in  the  North- 
west.    But,  fortunately,  he  was  also  a  writer  of 
elegant  English  prose ;   and   one    of  the  most 


A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Daybreak ; 
arousing 
the  camp 


Corraling 
the  stock 


delightful  productions  of  his  pen  is  an  account 
which  he  wrote  in  1876  of  a  typical  day  on  this 
long  march  "  with  the  cow-column."  Since 
this  essay  gives  us  so  lifelike  a  picture  of  the 
great  emigration  in  motion  toward  the  west, 
and  since  it  describes  the  camping  methods  in 
use  for  many  years  among  trapping  parties  and 
traders,  as  well  as  emigrants  to  Oregon  and 
California,  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  tran- 
scribe a  portion  of  it.^ 

"  It  is  four  o'clock  a.m.  ;  the  sentinels  on 
duty  have  discharged  their  rifles  —  the  signal 
that  the  hours  of  sleep  are  over  —  and  every 
wagon  and  tent  is  pouring  forth  its  night 
tenants,  and  slow  kindling  smokes  begin  largely 
to  rise  and  float  away  in  the  morning  air. 
Sixty  men  start  from  the  corral,  spreading  as 
they  make  through  the  vast  herd  of  cattle  and 
horses  that  make  a  semicircle  around  the  en- 
campment, the  most  distant  perhaps  two  miles 
away. 

"  The  herders  pass  the  extreme  verge  and 
carefully  examine  for  trails  beyond,  to  see  that 
none  of  the  animals  have  strayed  or  been 
stolen  during  the  night.  This  morning  no 
trails  lead  beyond  the  outside  animals  in  sight. 


1  The  paper  was  first  read  by  Mr.  Applegate  before  the  Ore- 
gon Pioneer  Association  in  1876,  and  published  in  their  pro- 
ceedings ;  recently  it  has  been  reprinted  in  the  Quarterly  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society  (December,  1900). 


THE   GREAT  MIGRATION  187 

and  by  five  o'clock  the  herders  begin  to  con- 
tract the  great  moving  circle,  and  the  well- 
trained  animals  move  slowly  towards  camp, 
clipping  here  and  there  a  thistle  or  a  tempting 
bunch  of  grass  on  the  way.  In  about  an  hour 
five  thousand  animals  are  close  up  to  the  en- 
campment, and  the  teamsters  are  busy  select- 
ing their  teams  and  driving  them  inside  the 
corral  to  be  yoked.  The  corral  is  a  circle  one 
hundred  yards  deep,  formed  with  wagons  con- 
nected strongly  with  each  other ;  the  wagon  in 
the  rear  being  connected  with  the  wagon  in 
front  by  its  tongue  and  ox  chains.  It  is  a 
strong  barrier  that  the  most  vicious  ox  cannot 
break,  and  in  case  of  attack  from  the  Sioux 
would  be  no  contemptible  intrenchment. 

"  From  six  to  seven  o'clock  is  a  busy  time ;  Getting 
breakfast  is  to  be  eaten,  the  tents  struck,  the  ir'^J^'J'^ 

'  the  day's 

wagons  loaded  and  the  teams  yoked  and  march 
brought  up  in  readiness  to  be  attached  to  their 
respective  wagons.  All  know  when,  at  seven 
o'clock,  the  signal  to  march  sounds,  that  those 
not  ready  to  take  their  places  in  the  line  of 
march  must  fall  into  the  dusty  rear  for  the  day. 
There  are  sixty  wagons.  They  have  been 
divided  into  fifteen  divisions  or  platoons  of 
four  wagons  each,  and  each  platoon  is  entitled 
to  lead  in  its  turn.  The  leading  platoon  to-day 
will  be  the  rear  one  to-morrow,  and  will  bring 
up  the  rear  unless  some  teamster  through  in- 


1 88     A  HISTORY   OF   THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

dolence  or  neligence  has  lost  his  place  in  the 
line,  and  is  condemned  to  that  uncomfortable 
post.  It  is  within  ten  minutes  of  seven  ;  the 
corral  but  now  a  strong  barricade  is  every- 
where broken,  the  teams  being  attached  to  the 
wagons.  The  women  and  children  have  taken 
their  places  in  them.      The  pilot  (a   borderer 


A  Buffalo  Hunt. 

who  has  passed  his  life  on  the  verge  of  civiliza- 
tion and  has  been  chosen  to  his  post  of  leader 
from  his  knowledge  of  the  savage  and  his  ex- 
perience in  travel  through  roadless  wastes) 
stands  ready,  in  the  midst  of  his  pioneers  and 
aids,  to  mount  and  lead  the  way.  Ten  or  fif- 
teen young  men,  not  to-day  on  duty,  form 
another  cluster.  They  are  ready  to  start  on  a 
buffalo  hunt,  are  well  mounted  and  well  armed, 


THE  GREAT  MIGRATION  189 

as  they  need  to  be,  for  the  unfriendly  Sioux 
have  driven  the  buffalo  out  of  the  Platte,  and 
the  hunters  must  ride  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  to 
find  them.  The  cow  drivers  are  hastening,  as 
they  get  ready,  to  the  rear  of  their  charge,  to 
collect  and  prepare  them  for  the  day's  march. 

"  It  is  on  the  stroke  of  seven ;  the  rush  to  Breaking 
and  fro,  the  cracking^  of  whips,  the  loud  com-  ^^"^f'  /"'" 

c>  L     '  ward  along 

mand  to  oxen,  and  what  seemed  to  be  the  the  trail 
inextricable  confusion  of  the  last  ten  minutes 
has  ceased.  Fortunately  every  one  has  been 
found  and  every  teamster  is  at  his  post.  The 
clear  notes  of  a  trumpet  sound  in  the  front; 
the  pilot  and  his  guards  mount  their  horses ; 
the  leading  divisions  of  the  wagons  move  out 
of  the  encampment,  and  take  up  the  line  of 
march;  the  rest  fall  into  their  places  with  the 
precision  of  clockwork,  until  the  spot  so  lately 
full  of  life  sinks  back  into  that  solitude  that 
seems  to  reign  over  the  broad  plain  and  rushing 
river  as  the  caravan  draws  its  lazy  length  to- 
wards the  distant  El  Dorado.  .  .  . 

"  The  pilot,  by  measuring  the  ground  and  The 
timing  the  speed  of  the  horses,  has  determined  ^°°°i"g 
the  rate  of  each,  so  as  to  enable  him  to  select 
the  nooning  place  as  nearly  as  the  requisite 
grass  and  water  can  be  had  at  the  end  of  five 
hours'  travel  of  the  wagons.  To-day,  the  ground 
being  favorable,  little  time  has  been  lost  in 
preparing  the  road,  so  that  he  and  his  pioneers 


190     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Session  of 

the 

♦•  council " 


The  drowsy 
afternoon 


are  at  the  nooning  place  an  hour  in  advance 
of  the  wagons,  which  time  is  spent  in  preparing 
convenient  watering  places  for  the  animals,  and 
digging  little  wells  near  the  bank  of  the  Platte. 
As  the  teams  are  not  unyoked,  but  simply 
turned  loose  from  the  wagons,  a  corral  is  not 
formed  at  noon,  but  the  wagons  are  drawn  up 
in  columns,  four  abreast,  the  leading  wagon  of 
each  platoon  on  the  left,  the  platoons  being 
formed  with  that  in  view.  This  brings  friends 
together  at  noon  as  well  as  at  night. 

"  To-day  an  extra  session  of  the  council  is 
being  held,  to  settle  a  dispute  that  does  not  admit 
of  delay,  between  a  proprietor  and  a  young  man 
who  has  undertaken  to  do  a  man's  service  on 
the  journey  for  bed  and  board.  Many  such 
cases  exist,  and  much  interest  is  taken  in  the 
manner  in  which  this  high  court,  from  which 
there  is  no  appeal,  will  define  the  rights  of 
each  party  in  such  engagements.  The  council 
was  a  high  court  in  the  most  exalted  sense. 
It  was  a  senate  composed  of  the  ablest  and 
most  respected  fathers  of  the  emigration.  It 
exercised  both  legislative  and  judicial  powers, 
and  its  laws  and  decisions  proved  equal,  and 
worthy  of  the  high  trust  reposed  in  it.  .  .  . 

"  It  is  now  one  o'clock ;  the  bugle  has 
sounded  and  the  caravan  has  resumed  its  west- 
ward journey.  It  is  in  the  same  order,  but  the 
evening  is  far  less  animated  than  the  morning 


THE   GREAT   MIGRATION  I9I 

march.  A  drowsiness  has  fallen  apparently  on 
man  and  beast ;  teamsters  drop  asleep  on  their 
perches,  and  even  when  walking  by  their  teams ; 
and  the  words  of  command  are  now  addressed 
to  the  slowly  creeping  oxen  in  the  soft  tenor  of 
women  or  the  piping  treble  of  children,  while  • 
the  snores  of  the  teamsters  make  a  droning 
accompaniment.  ... 

"  The  sun  is  now  getting  low  in  the  west,  Forming  the 
and  at  length  the  painstaking  pilot  is  standing  ^^^"'"s 
ready  to  conduct  the  train  in  the  circle  which  nightfall 
he  has  previously  measured  and  marked  out, 
which  is  to  form  the  invariable  fortification  for 
the  night.  The  leading  wagons  follow  him  so 
nearly  around  the  circle  that  but  a  wagon  length 
separates  them.  Each  wagon  follows  in  its 
track,  the  rear  closing  on  the  front,  until  its 
tongue  and  ox  chains  will  perfectly  reach  from 
one  to  the  other ;  and  so  accurate  [is]  the  meas- 
ure and  perfect  the  practice,  that  the  hindmost 
wagon  of  the  train  always  precisely  closes  the 
gateway.  As  each  wagon  is  brought  into  posi- 
tion it  is  dropped  from  its  team  (the  teams  being 
inside  the  circle),  the  team  is  unyoked,  and  the 
yoke  and  chains  are  used  to  connect  the  w^agon 
strongly  with  that  in  its  front.  Within  ten 
minutes  from  the  time  the  leading  wagon 
halted,  the  barricade  is  formed,  the  teams  un- 
yoked and  driven  out  to  pasture.  Every  one  is 
busy  preparing  fires  ...  to  cook  the  evening 


192 


A  HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Arrival  at 
Fort  Mall, 
August  27 


meal,  pitching  tents  and  otherwise  preparing 
for  the  night.  .  .  ."  The  watches  "  begin  at 
eight  o'clock  p.m.  and  end  at  four  o'clock  a.m."' 
The  daily  routine,  here  so  graphically  de- 
scribed, must  have  become  extremely  weari- 
some to  the  pioneers  and  their  families  after 
a  few  months    spent    upon    the   dusty,  dreary 


The  Old  Trail  along  the  Sweetwater. 

"trail."  At  the  end  of  ninety-eight  days,  on 
the  27th  of  August,  the  company  reached  Fort 
Hall,  the  trading  post  built  by  Wyeth  in  1832 
and  afterward  sold  to  the  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany, which  had  become  a  famous  way  station 
on  the  overland  route.  They  were  now  on  the 
eastern  border  of  the  Oregon  country,  and  two- 
thirds  of  the  distance  to  the  Willamette   had 


THE   GREAT   MIGRATION  193 

been  traversed.  The  hardships  already  en- 
dured from  storm,  flood,  and  the  unavoidable 
mishaps  of  the  long  journey  across  the  plains 
were  very  great ;  yet  all  were  aware  that  the 
most  difficult  portion  of  the  trip  was  still  before 
them.  Thus  far  the  road  had  been  compara- 
tively good ;  at  least,  the  wagons  always  had  a 
well-marked  trail  to  follow.  But  this  practically 
terminated  at  Fort  Hall,  which  was  connected 
with  the  lower  country  only  by  a  pack  trail. 
No  loaded  wagons  had  ever  passed  the  fort, 
and  when  the  pioneers  set  out  from  their  homes 
in  the  spring  it  was  generally  understood  that 
the  wagon  road  ended  at  this  place.  However, 
they  soon  found  that  it  would  be  impossible  to 
secure  enough  pack  horses  to  carry  their  fami- 
lies and  property  to  the  Columbia,  as  the  small 
parties  of  previous  years  had  done,  and  so  it 
became  necessary  to  go  forward  with  the  wagons 
at  all  hazards.  The  company  was  large,  they 
could  send  roadmakers  ahead  to  prepare  the 
way,  and  might  be  able  to  overcome  even  the 
worst  difficulties  by  united  effort.  Besides,  they 
had  with  them  Dr.  Whitman  of  the  Walla 
Walla  mission,  who  had  taken  his  light  wagon, 
without  a  load,  as  far  as  Fort  Boise  in  1836, 
and  who  knew  more  about  the  possibility  of 
opening  a  wagon  trail  through  the  region  still  to 
be  traversed  than  any  of  the  other  men.  Whit- 
man felt  certain  they  could  succeed,  urged  the 


194     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

company  to  make  the  venture,  and  offered  to 
act  as  guide.  His  services  to  the  emigrants 
from  Fort  Hall  westward  were  very  great,  and 
are  remembered  with  gratitude  by  the  early 
pioneers  of  the  Northwest.^ 
From  Fort  They  left  Fort  Hall  on  the  30th  of  August, 
waHUt  u      passed    Fort    Boise    September    20,   and    ten 

down  the 
Columbia 


Mt.  Hood. 

days  later  came  in  sight  of  the  Grand  Ronde, 
the  famous  circular  valley  of  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains. Its  peaceful  beauties  are  said  to  have 
so  impressed  the  travelers,  after  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  the  days  spent  in  the  desert,  that 

^  The  circumstances  inducing  Dr.  Whitman  to  make  the  win- 
ter journey  from  his  mission  on  the  Walla  Walla  to  Boston  and 
Washington  will  be  narrated  in  Chapter  XIV. 


THE   GREAT  MIGRATION  195 

some  broke  into  tears  of  joy  as  they  looked 
down  upon  it  from  the  high  plateau  above. 
Ten  days  later  they  reached  Whitman's  station, 
where  many  of  them  bought  supplies  of  wheat 
and  potatoes  for  the  trip  to  w^estern  Oregon. 
A  portion  of  the  emigrants  arranged  to  leave 
their  cattle  in  the  Walla  Walla  valley;  some 
drove  herds  overland ;  while  the  families,  the 
wagons,  and  other  property  w^ere  taken  down 
the  Columbia  in  boats  and  rafts.  By  the  end 
of  November  all  had  reached  the  Willamette 
valley.^ 

1  Most  of  the  sources  from  which  this  account  of  the  great 
emigration  is  written  were  discovered  by  the  writer  while  search- 
ing through  files  of  old  newspapers  preserved  at  Madison,  Wis- 
consin, St.  Louis  and  Columbia,  Missouri.  A  portion  of  the 
matter  thus  found  has  been  reprinted  in  the  Quarterly  of  the 
Oregon  Historical  Society,  where  it  can  be  conveniently  referred 
to.  The  most  important  single  source  for  the  journey  is  the 
Burnett  Herald  letters,  reprinted  in  the  Quarterly  for  December, 
1902.  A  series  of  other  short  letters  appears  in  the  Quarterly  for 
June,  1903,  and  still  others  in  several  recent  numbers.  The 
Quarterly,  edited  by  Professor  F.  G.  Young,  secretary  of  the 
society,  was  begun  in  March,  1900,  and  has  now  completed  the 
fifth  volume.  In  it  has  already  been  gathered  a  large  amount  of 
valuable  source  material  relating  to  the  history  of  the  Northwest, 
as  well  as  numerous  special  articles  by  pioneers  and  others. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE    FIRST    AMERICAN     GOVERNMENT    ON    THE 
PACIFIC 

Importance        The    emigration    whose    organization    and 
*^^^^^  .        movements  have  iust  been  described  marks  a 

emigration  ^  »    .         . 

of  1843  new  starting  point  in  the  history  of  the  North- 
west. Up  to  this  time  we  have  been  deaHng 
with  events  which  may  be  looked  upon  as 
introductory ;  now  we  begin  actually  to  see  the 
process  of  state  building  on  the  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  Just  as  in  Virginia  the  colony  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  beerb  planted  prior  to 
the  arrival  of  Delaware's  party  in  16 10;  as  in 
Massachusetts  it  was  the  great  company 
brought  out  by  Winthrop  in  1630  which  firmly 
established  the  English  people,  although  the 
beginnings  of  settlement  already  existed  ;  so  on 
N,'the  Pacific  coast  the  emigration  of  1843  closes 
A  the  period  of  experiment,  and  gives  us  a  true, 
self-supporting  American  colony.  In  the 
present  chapter  we  shall  do  scarcely  more  than 
point  out  some  of  the  changes  produced  in 
Oregon  during  the  succeeding  three  years  as  a 
result  of  this  influx  of  new  people. 

The  earliest  attempts  to  form  a  provisional 
196 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT   ON    PACIFIC     197 

^Pgovernment  for   the    Willamette   colony   were  Beginnings 
made  several  years  prior  to   1843;  but,  as  we  °^^^^^g>- 

■^  /^       ,  ^^  '  ^  tation  for  a 

shall  see,  the  organization  was  not  put  into  government 
effective  operation  till  after  the  new  emigrants 
arrived.^  When  our  people  began  going  to 
the  country  there  were  no  American  laws  to 
control  their  actions,  and  no  government  what- 
ever except  that 
which  was  exer- 
cised over  Brit- 
ish subjects  by 
officers  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay 
Company.  The 
missionaries  in 
the  Willamette 
valley,  and  the 
other  settlers 
who  gradually 
collected  there, 
regarded  this  as 
one  of  their  prin- 
cipal grievances, 
and      repeatedly 

petitioned  Congress  to  extend  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  over  them.    But,  as  we  have  seen, 


Governor  George  Abernethy. 


^  In  the  history  of  the  Northwest  the  terms  "  emigrants  "  and 
''  emigration "  have  commonly  been  used  instead  of  "  immi- 
grants "  and  "  immigration."  The  custom  will  be  preserved  in 
these  pages. 


198      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

that  body  could  not  be  induced  to  take  any 
action.  In  1840,  witSji  the  arrival  of  the  Lau- 
sanne company  and  trie  Rocky  Mountain  trap- 
pers of  that  year,  the  ^merican  party  felt  greatly 
strengthened  and  began  to  talk  of  organizing 
a  provisional  or  temporary  government  on  their 
own  account,  in  the  e^ectation  of  giving  it  up 
whenever  the  United  States  should  be  prepared 
to  extend  its  authority  lover  the  country.  The 
French  settlers,  however,  being  attached  to  the 
fur  company,  remained  ^tisfied  with  conditions 
as  they  were. 
The  first  \  Early  in  1841  an  incident  occurred  which 
tl^wardan  ,At)^ought  out  sharply  the  need  of  some  regular 
organiza-/  authority,  and  set  in  motion  plans  to  secure  a 
^^"'  ^  ^  political  organization.  Ewing  Young,  the  pio- 
neer stockman  of  the  Willamette  valley,  whose 
connection  with  the  cattle  company  has  already 
been  described,  had,  in  the  course  of  nine  years' 
residence  in  the  country,  become  possessed  of 
a  large  herd  of  cattle  and  considerable  other 
property.  In  February  of  this  year  he  died, 
without  making  any  provision  by  will  for  the 
disposition  of  his  estate,  and  so  far  as  known 
leaving  no  heir.  His  neighbors  were  naturally 
very  much  interested  in  the  case,  and  it  is 
claimed  that  those  who  gathered  at.  Young's 
funeral  issued  a  call  for  a  general  meeting  to 
consider  what  was  to  be  done  with  this  prop- 
erty.    On   the    17th   of    February,    when    the 


FIRST   AMERICAN    GOVERNMENT   ON   PACIFIC     199 

public  meeting  occurred,  resolutions  were  of- 
fered providing  for  a  committee  to  draft  a  con- 
stitution and  laws.  This  body  was  selected  on 
the  1 8th,  and  besides  the  settlers  chose  Dr.  Ira 
L.  Babcock  of  the  Methodist  mission  to  be  su- 
preme judge  with  probate  powers.  They  pro- 
vided also  for  a  clerk  of  courts  and  recorder, 
a  high  sheriff,  and  three  constables.  The 
meeting  then  adjourned  to  the  second  Tuesday 
in  June.  Dr.  Babcock,  on  the  15th  of  April, 
appointed  an  administrator  for  Ewing  Young's 
property,  this  being,  it  is  believed,  the  first  of- 
ficial act  of  the  Oregon  provisional  government. 

When  the  June  meeting  took  place  it  was  The  plan 
found  that  the  committee  appointed  to  draft  a  '^'^''^'''^' 
constitution  and  laws  had  done  nothing,  not 
even  so  much  as  to  meet  for  consultation.  The 
reason  was  plain  enough.  In  their  anxiety  to 
gain  the  support  of  the  French  settlers  the 
missionary  party,  which  controlled  the  earlier 
meetings,  had  succeeded  in  making  the  French 
priest.  Father  Blanchet,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee. But  he  refused  to  take  any  interest  in 
the  matter  and  failed  to  call  the  committee  to- 
gether. Blanchet  now  resigned,  and  his  place 
being  filled  by  an  American  it  seemed  that 
something  would  probably  be  done.  The  com- 
mittee was  instructed  to  meet  on  a  particular 
day  and  report  to  a  meeting  of  the  settlers  set 
for  October.     But  now  a  new  obstacle  appeared 


200      A    HISTORY    OF    THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

in  the  person  of  Lieutenant  Wilkes,  who  showed 
himself  decidedly  opposed  to  the  plan  of  a  pro- 
visional government.  The  result  was  that  the 
whole  matter  was  dropped  for  more  than  a  year. 
The  In  the  fall  of   1842  Dr.  White  arrived  as  In- 

^T^dTn'^^  dian  agent,  bringing  his  company  of  one  hun- 
1843;  the  dred  and  twenty  new  settlers.  Although  the 
meeting"  Frcnch  party  had  also  been  strengthened,  it  now 
appeared  to  some  of  the  Americans  that  the 
time  for  action  had  come.  The  matter  was 
\  discussed  during  the  winter,  and  with  the  ap- 

proach of  spring  a  favorable  opportunity  arose 
to  secure  a  public  meeting.  The  settlers' 
herds  had  suffered  much  from  the  ravages  of 
wild  beasts,  an  evil  which  called  for  some 
means  of  exterminating  the  forest  foes.  On 
the  2d  of  February,  1843,  a  group  of  persons 
gathered  at  the  Oregon  Institute  appointed 
a  committee  to  "  notify  a  general  meeting," 
which  was  held  on  the  second  Monday  of 
March.  The  committee  was  prepared  with 
resolutions  advising  that  bounties  be  paid  for 
killing  wolves,  lynxes,  bears,  and  panthers ; 
X  that  a  subscription  fund  be  raised  for  that  pur- 
pose ;  and  that  officers  be  appointed  to  manage 
the  business.  These  being  adopted,  the  more 
important  and  interesting  resolution  was  offered, 
"That  a  committee  [of  twelve]  be  appointed  to 
take  into  consideration  the  propriety  of  taking 
steps  for  the  civil  and  military  protection  of  the 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT   ON    PACIFIC    201 

colony."  ^  This  also  received  a  favorable  vote, 
and  now  the  plan  to  create  a  provisional  gov- 
ernment was  fully  launched. 

Only  two  months  were  allowed  to  intervene  The  provi- 
between  the  appointment  of  the  committee  and  ^'""^^^soy- 

^  ^  ^  ernment 

the  meeting  to  consider  its  report.     It  was  a  voted  at 
time    of   great   political  activity  in    the  settle-  ^^^^'^'^^f 
ment.     The  French  people  were  still  generally 


Mount  Rainier  from  the  South. 


opposed  to  the  scheme,  as  they  declared  in  a 
formal  address  to  the  colonists  prepared  about 
this  time,  and  many  of  the  Americans  were 
far  from  enthusiastic.  There  was  much  un- 
certainty in  the  minds  of  the  settlers  as  they 

^  This  resolution  was  proposed  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Gray,  who  was 
then  living  in  the  Willamette  valley,  and  who  bore  a  prominent 
part  in  the  affairs  of  the  CQ.lpDy  at  this  time. 


202      A   HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

gathered  at  Champoeg  on  the  2d  of  May. 
The  committee,  however,  reported  in  favor  of 
estabHshing  a  government.  When  a  motion 
was  made  to  adopt  this  report,  the  vote  was 
very  close  and  some  one  called  for  a  division 
of  the  house.  At  this  point  arose  the  stalwart 
/  figure  of  "  Joe "  Meek,  one  of  the  most  pic- 
turesque of  the  "  mountain  men,"  and  a  person 
of  considerable  influence  among  certain  classes 
in  the  community.  Stepping  out  grandly  in 
front  of  the  crowd  of  excited  men  he  shouted : 
"  Who's  for  a  divide  ?  All  in  favor  of  the  re- 
port and  of  an  organization,  follow  me."  The 
count  was  made,  we  are  told,  after  half  an  hour 
of  the  greatest  confusion,  and  resulted  in  fifty- 
two  (52)  votes  in  favor  of  and  fifty  (50)  against 
the  resolution.  So  the  project  to  organize  a 
provisional  government  was  carried. 
Election  of  The  ofKiccrs  recommended  by  the  committee 
officers;  the  ^^q^q  choscu   bcforc    the    adioumment.     Thev 

July  meet-  .  •'  ■' 

ing  were  a  supreme   judge,  a  clerk  and   recorder, 

a  high  sheriff  (Joe  Meek  was  very  properly 
elected  to  this  post),  three  magistrates,  three 
constables,  a  major  and  three  captains  of  mi- 
litia. A  legislative  committee  composed  of  nine 
members  was  also  chosen  at  this  meeting,  and 
instructed  to  report  a  code  of  laws  to  be  voted 
on  by  the  people  July  5.  The  pioneers  who 
gathered  at  Champoeg  to  hear  a  4th  of  July 
address  by  ReVr  Gustavus  Hines  remained  over 


FIRST  AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT  ON   PACIFIC    203 

to  the  next  day  and  ratified  the  provisions  of 
the  so-called  First  Organic  Law.^ 

"We  the  people   of   Oregon    Territory,"  so  Agovem- 
the  preamble  of  this  famous  document  recites,  ir^^Lpact 
"  for  purposes  of  mutual^  protection,  and  to  se- 
cure  peace   and   prosperity  among   ourselves, 
agree  to  adopt  the  following  laws  and  regula- 
tions until  such  time  as  the  United  States  of 
America   extend    their    jurisdiction    over   us." 
Here  we  have  the  well-known  American  method 
of   forming    a   government    by   "  compact,"    or 
agreement.      Two   hundred    and   twenty-three 
years  earlier,  when  the    Pilgrim    Fathers  met 
to  draw  up    their  "  Mayflower  Compact,"  this 
principle  was   employed   for  the  first    time  in 
American  history,  and  soon  afterward  the  early 
colonists    of    Connecticut   followed   it  in  their 
"  Fundamental  Orders."     When,  at  a  later  time, 
American  pioneers  crossed  the  Alleghanies  to 
eastern  Tennessee,  and   found  themselves  be- 
yond  the   jurisdiction    of   any  seaboard   state, 
they  formed  the  "  Watauga  Association."    Simi- 
lar pioneer  governments  were  created  in  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  Cumberland  River,  and  elsewhere.^ 

1  This  document,  as  well  as  the  provisional  constitution  of 
1845,  may  be  conveniently  found  in  Strong  and  Schafer's  "Gov- 
ernment of  the  American  People,"  Oregon  edition,  Boston,  1901, 
Appendix. 

^  The  people  of  Vermont,  for  example,  had  a  government  of 
their  own,  created  by  compact  or  agreement  among  themselves, 
for  fourteen  years  before  the  state  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 


204      A    HISTORY    OF    THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


The  emigra- 
tion of  1843 
saves  the 
provisional 
government 


Govern- 
mental 
improve- 
ments made 
in  1844-      j 
1845  f 

I 


The  Willamette  settlers  were  following  in  the 
footsteps  of  their  ancestors. 

The  work  of  the  pioneers  at  Champoeg  was 
of  very  great  importance  in  the  history  of 
Oregon  and  the  Pacific  coast;  for  it  called 
the  attention  of  men  everywhere  to  the  Ameri- 
can colony  in  this  region ;  it  quickened  the 
interest  of  the  United  States  government;  and 
announced  to  Great  Britain  that  her  subjects 
were  no  longer  completely  dominant  in  the 
Pacific  Northwest.  Yet,  while  the  Americans 
then  in  the  country  deserve  great  credit  for 
taking  the  first  steps,  these  results  were  largely 
due  to  the  appearance  of  the  great  emigration 
in  the  fall.  It  changed  the  small  American 
majority  into  an  overwhelming  one ;  provided 
able  political  leaders,  like  Burnett,  Applegate, 
McCarver,  Nesmith,  Waldo,  and  Lovejoy;  in- 
creased the  property  of  the  country ;  and  gave 
a  feeling  of  security  and  stability  which  only 
numbers  can  impart. 

The  government  as  adopted  in  July,  1843, 
while  probably  the  best  that  could  then  be 
secured,  was  in  some  respects  very  weak.  In- 
stead of  a  governor  there  was  to  be  an  execu- 
tive committee  of  three.  The  land  law,  which 
was  of  greater  interest  to  most  of  the  settlers 
than  any  other  feature,  was  especially  defective, 
because  it  allowed  the  Catholic  and  Protestant 
missions  to  claim  each  an  entire  township,  aside 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT   ON    PACIFIC     205 

from  the  land  their  members  held  as  individual 
settlers.  Lastly,  there  was  no  way  to  raise 
money  for  the  support  of  the  government 
except  by  private  contributions,  a  thoroughly 
inefficient  and  always  disappointing  method. 
The  legislative  committee  of  1844,  made  up 
mainly  of  the  newcomers,  revised  the  entire 
system,  providing  for  a  governor,  a  house  of 
representatives,  a  more  satisfactory  judiciary, 
a  new  land  law  permitting  none  but  actual 
settlers  to  hold  claims,  and  above  all  a  means 
of  raising  taxes  to  support  the  government. 
This  last  was  the  keystone  of  their  political 
arch,  as  the  leaders  well  knew,  and  they  were 
wise  enough  to  fit  it  exacdy  to  its  purpose. 
The  law  required  that  every  settler's  property 
should  be  assessed  according  to  regular  rates, 
and  in  case  any  one  refused  to  pay  the  tax  ap- 
portioned to  him,  he  was  to  lose  the  right  to 
vote  and  all  other  benefits  of  the  government. 
If  his  claim  were  jumped,  the  court  could  not 
relieve  him ;  if  a  thief  were  to  drive  off  his 
cattle  or  slaughter  them  in  the  pasture,  the 
sheriff  and  the  constables  would  turn  a  deaf 
ear  to  his  appeal  for  help.  He  would  become 
an  outlaw. 

In   these  ways  the    provisional    government  Successor 
was  completed.     The  new  scheme  was  adopted  gl^o^ar^llv- 
by  a  large  majority  on  the  26th  of  July,  1845,  emment 
and  Oreeon  at  last  had  a  constitution  similar 


2o6  .  A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

in  most  respects  to  that  of  an  ordinary  state. 
It  was  a   good   government,  —  firm,  just,  and 
effective  in  all  its  departments.     The  settlers 
supposed  it  was  to  last  only  a  few  months,  be- 
lieving the  United   States  was  about   to  take 
control  of  the  country ;  but  in  fact  this  event 
did  not  occur  till  nearly  four  years  later.     In 
the  meantime  there  was  no  reasonable  cause  of 
)\      complaint  against  the  government  maintained 
by    the    sturdy,    sober,    order-loving    pioneers 
themselves. 
Effect  of  the       While    thcsc    political    matters    were   being 
mTg^rltion      Settled,   wcstcm   Oregon    was   filling   up   with 
on  later        ncw  pcoplc  whosc  comiug  was  due  very  largely 
emigraions    ^^  ^j^^  succcss  of  the  1843  emigration.     When 
that  company  started,  many  thousands  of  people 
followed  their  movements  with  anxiety,  not  a 
few  regarded  them  as  foolish  adventurers,  and 
Horace  Greeley  declared :  "  This  emigration  of 
I  more  than  a  thousand  persons  in  one  body  to 
^Ore^on  wears  an  aspect  of  insanity."  ^     When 
they  reached  the  Columbia  in  safety,  proving 
that  loaded   wagons   could   be  taken  through 
without  serious    difficulty,  a  great  change    in- 

1  New  York  Tribune,  July  22,  1843.  He  feared  that  their 
provisions  would  give  out,  their  stock  perish  for  want  of  grass 
and  water,  their  children  and  women  starve.  "  For  what,"  ex- 
claimed Mr.  Greeley,  "do  they  brave  the  desert,  the  wilderness, 
the  savage,  the  snowy  precipices  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the 
weary  summer  march,  the  storm-drenched  bivouac  and  the  gnaw- 
ings  of  famine  ? " 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT   ON   PACIFIG    207 

stantly  came  over  the  thought  of  the  country 
with  respect  to  Oregon.  It  was  a  startling 
thing  to  eastern  people  to  be  told,  by  a  man 
who  had  made  the  trip,  "  You  can  move  here 
[from  Missouri]  with  less  expense  than  you 
could  to  Tennessee  or  Kentucky."  Moreover, 
many  prominent  pioneers  wrote  home  giving 
favorable  accounts  of  the  country.  Burnett 
said,  "  If  man  cannot  supply  all  his  wants  here, 
he  cannot  anywhere."  Another  declared  :  "  The 
prospect  is  quite  good  for  a  young  man  to  make 
a  fortune  in  this  country,  as  all  kinds  of  prod- 
uce are  high  and  likely  to  remain  so  from  the 
extensive  demand.  The  Russian  settlements  in 
Asia  [Alaska  ?],  the  Sandwich  Islands,  a  great 
portion  of  California,  and  the  whaling  vessels 
of  the  Northwest  coast  procure  their  supplies 
from  this  place."  McCarver  found  "the  soil 
of  this  valley  .  .  .  equal  to  that  of  Iowa  or  any 
other  portion  of  the  United  States;  .  .  ."  and 
T.  B.  Wood  wrote,  "  The  prairies  of  this  region 
are  .  .  .  equal  to  any  in  Missouri  or  Illinois." 
Such  letters  were  commonly  prmted,  first  in 
the  local  paper  of  some  western  town,  then  in 
the  more  widely  read  journals  of  the  country, 
with  the  result  that  Oregon  took  its  place  in 
the  popular  mind  by  the  side  of  Wisconsin, 
Iowa,  and  Texas,  as  a  territory  possessing 
attractions  for  the  home  seeker. 

The  emigrating  company  of  1844  numbered 


208     A  HISTORY   OF   THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

V 

The  emigra-  about  fourtecn  hundred.  The  parties  reached 
tionofi844  ^j^^  Missouri 'frontier  early  in  the  spring  and 
set  out  in  good  time.  But  the  wetness  of  the 
season  caused  many  delays,  so  that  they  reached 
the  western  slope  very  late,  and  mostly  in  want 
of  provisions.  A  small  party  was  hurried  for- 
ward to  bring  supplies  from  the  Willamette 
valley,  some  bought  food  of  the  missionaries 
\  on  the  Walla  Walla,  and  even  of  the  Indians, 
1  and  finally,  late  in  the  fall,  most  of  them  reached 
their  destination  in  a  sorry  state.  The  rains 
having  already  set  in,  there  was  no  chance  to 
provide  proper  shelter,  and  many  suffered  great 
inconvenience,  if  not  actual  hardship.  The 
earlier  settlers  were  forced  to  listen  to  a  good 
deal  of  repining  from  the  newcomers ;  but,  as 
one  of  them  wrote,  this  "  only  lasted  during 
the  winter.  In  the  spring,  when  the  clouds 
cleared  away,  and  the  grass  and  flowers  sprang 
up  beneath  the  kindling  rays  of  a  bright  Oregon 
sun,  their  spirits  revived  with  reviving  nature, 
and  by  the  succeeding  fall  they  had  themselves 
become  old  settlers,  and  formed  a  part  of  us, 
their  views  and  feelings,  in  the  meantime,  having 
undergone  a  total  change."  ^ 

In  the  year  1845  Oregon  received  the  largest 

^  Quoted  from  Burnett's  "  Recollections  of  an  Old  Pioneer," 
New  York,  1880.  The  portion  of  this  book  relating  to  Oregon, 
which  contains  a  large  amount  of  valuable  matter  on  early  con- 
ditions, the  emigration  of  1843,  etc.,  has  been  reprinted  in  the 
Quarterly  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  Vol.  V. 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT   ON   PACIFIC     209 

of  the  early  emigrations,  a  body  of  nearly  three  The  emigra- 
thousand  people.  They  started,  not  in  a  single  ^g"?^ 
caravan  like  the  earlier  parties,  but  in  com-  horrors  of 
panics  of  fifty,  seventy-five,  a  hundred,  or  two  uc^^t-off" 
hundred  wagons.  All  went  well  till  after  they 
passed  Fort  Boise,  where  the  emigrants  encoun- 
tered Stephen  H.  L.  Meek,  who  offered  to  guide 
them  over  a  trail  by  way  of  the  Malheur  River, 
said  to  be  much  shorter  than  that  commonly 
used.^  Unfortunately,  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  w^agons  followed  him  into  the  most  barren 
and  desolate  country  that  eastern  Oregon  con- 
tains, and  where  as  it  proved  there  was  no 
road  except  an  old  pack  trail.  Stock  perished, 
food  gave  out,  the  emigrants  became  desperate 
in  their  anxiety  to  find  water.  When  they 
reached  a  little  oasis  in  the  desert,  they  formed 
a  camp,  while  mounted  men  to  the  number  of 
one  hundred  scoured  the  country  in  every 
direction  for  water,  only  to  return  at  nightfall 
without  findinor  it.  This  was  continued  for 
several  days  in  succession.  Meantime  the 
children  and  the  weaker  adults  were  falling 
sick,  and  many  of  them  were  dying.  In  the 
midst  of  this  despair  a  galloping  horseman 
brought  the  glad  news  of  the  discovery  of  water. 
The  hated  guide  had  found  it.  Grief  was  now 
turned  to  joy;  loud  shouts  rang  out;  there  was 
laughing   and    clapping  of   hands.     But  some 

^  Sixty  wagons  had  turned  off  at  Fort  Hall  to  go  to  California. 


/ 


2IO     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

\  "  stood  reverently  silent,  with  bowed  heads  and 

eyes  brimming  over  with  tears  of  thankfulness. 
The  stream  found  proved  to  be  a  branch  of  the 
^  Des  Chutes  River,  alono^  the  course  of  which 
the  travelers  passed  down  to  the  Dalles,  whence 
a  few  days  brought  them  to    the  Willamette. 
They  had  suffered  the  most  terrible  agony  on 
the  route,  wasted  forty  days  of  precious  time, 
and  worse  than  all,  lost  about  seventy-five  of 
their  number.^     Those  emigrants  who  followed 
the  customary  route  entered  the  valley  at  the 
usual  time  without  serious  mishap. 
Population         The  populatiou  of  Oregon,  which  was  doubled 
itsdSr"'     by  the  arrival  of  the  emigrants  of   1845,  now 
bution  numbered  about   six  thousand,  settled    in  five 

counties,  of  which  all  but  one  were  in  the  Willa- 
mette valley.     They  were  Yamhill,  Clackamas, 
Tualatin,  Champoeg,  and  Clatsop.     In  the  elec- 
NA    tionof  1845  the  total  vote  for  governor  was  five 
hundred  and  four.     The  following  year  it  was 
more  than  doubled,  and  a  new  county,  Polk,  had 
been  added  to  the  list  of  those  lying  south  of  the 
Columbia,  while  there  was  now  also  a  county, 
named  Columbia,  north  of  the  river. 
Origin  of  the       The  ucw  northern  county  has  its  explanation 
s^ettlemeT'^  partly  in  the  fact  that  a  few  Americans  were  by 
this  time  settled  on  the  waters  of  Puget  Sound. 
When  the  colonists  first  began  coming  to  Ore- 

^  The  names  of  thirty-four,  nearly  all  adults,  were  printed  in 
the  eastern  papers  of  the  next  year. 


FIRST   AMERICAN   GOVERNMENT  ON  PACIFIC     211 

gon  they  were  usually  dependent  on  the  Hud- 
son's Bay  Company  for  supplies,  stock,  tools, 
and  in  general  everything  necessary  to  start 
them  in  farming.  McLoughlin,  believing  that 
Great  Britain  would  at  last  come  into  posses- 
sion of  the  region  north  of  the  Columbia,  tried  -w- 
to  prevent  American  settlers  from  taking  claims 
on  that  side  of  the  river,  directing  them  all  to 
the  Willamette.  For  a  time  this  plan  worked 
well,  but  when  the  best  lands  of  the  valley  were 
all  taken  up,  and  Americans  became  so  numer- 
ous in  the  country  as  to  feel  somewhat  independ- 
ent of  the  fur  company,  a  few  pioneers  began 
to  think  of  taking  claims  north  of  the  river. 
Of  the  party  which  arrived  in  the  fall  of  1844  a 
few  men,  under  the  lead  of  M.  T.  Simmons, 
tried  to  reach  Puget  Sound  overland,  but  failing, 
returned  to  the  neighborhood  of  Vancouver, 
where  they  spent  the  winter.  The  following  sum- 
mer Simmons  started  out  once  more,  with  six 
companions,  made  his  way  up  the  Cowlitz  to  the 
head  of  navigation,  and  then  westward  to  the 
lower  end  of  the  Sound.  One  of  their  fellow- 
emigrants  of  the  previous  year,  John  R.  Jackson, 
was  already  established  in  a  cabin  on  the  high- 
land north  of  the  Cowlitz,  and  the  pioneers  also 
saw  the  large  farm  opened  some  years  before 
by  the  Puget  Sound  Agricultural  Company,  a 
branch  of  the  fur  company.  They  were  de- 
lighted with  the  prospects  of  the  Puget  Sound 


1 


212      A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


The  Hud- 
son's Bay 
Company 
accepts  the 
protection 
of  the 
provisional 
government 


4 


country,  with  its  splendid  opportunities  for 
commerce  and  manufactories  ;  and  returning  for 
his  family,  Simmons  settled,  in  October,  on  a 
claim  near  the  site  of  Olympia.  Four  other 
families  and  two  single  men  took  claims  in  the 
same  neighborhood,  and  thus  was  the  foundation 
laid  for  a  new  community  in  the  north. 

While  these  sturdy  frontiersmen  were  hew- 
ing a  road  through  the  jungle  north  of  Cowlitz 
Landing,  the  settlers  in  the  Willamette  were 
winning  their  greatest  political  victory  by  in- 
ducing the  officers  of  the  fur  company  to  bring 
themselves,  their  people,  and  all  the  property  of 
the  organization  under  the  protection  of  the 
provisional  government.  This  was  achieved 
on  the  15th  of  August.  The  monopoly,  which 
had  dominated  the  affairs  of  the  Northwest  for 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  had  at  last  sunk  to  a 
subordinate  position  ;  and  the  Oregon  question, 
so  far  as  control  of  the  country  itself  was  con- 
cerned, had  been  settled  by  the  pioneers.^ 

^  McLoughlin  made  a  special  arrangement  with  the  officers  of 
the  government,  whereby  the  company  was  to  be  taxed  only  on 
the  merchandise  which  it  sold  to  settlers.  Jesse  Applegate  is  the 
man  who  negotiated  this  important  agreement. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE    OPENING    OF    A    NEW    ERA 

The  change  which  had  occurred  in  the  rela-  How  the 
tions  between  Americans  and  EngHshmen  in  settlement 

^  ^        of  Oregon 

Oregon  no  doubt  had  its  effect  upon  the  Brit-  affected  the 
ish  government  at  home.  So  long  as  the  Hud-  ^^^f^^^ 
son's  Bay  Company  was  in  control  west  of  the 
Rockies,  there  was  every  reason,  from  their 
point  of  view,  to  continue  the  principle  of  "joint 
occupation."  But*  the  tables  had  at  last  been 
turned :  American  settlers  were  in  full  posses- 
sion of  the  region  south  of  the  Columbia,  and 
were  even  beginning  to  open  the  forests  north 
of  the  river.  It  must  have  been  clear  to  Great 
Britain  for  these  reasons  that  further  delay  in 
settling  the  Oregon  question  'would  be  wholly 
to  her  disadvantage. 

In  the  United  States  a  remarkable  agitation  The  Oregon 
had  begun  in  the  spring  of  1843.     It  was  due  in  at  cindn-^ 
part  to  the  failure  of  Linn's  bill,  and  in  part  to  a  "ati,  juiy, 
rumor  that  the  government  at  Washington  was     "^"^ 
willing  to  give  up  the  region  north  of  the  Co-/ 
lumbia  to  Great  Britain  if  she  would  persuade 
Mexico  to  sell  us  northern  California.     Many 
local  meetings  were  held  in  various  parts  of  ihe 

213 


214     A  HISTORY   OF  THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Origin  of 
the  demand 
for  54°  40' 
as  the 
northern 
boundary 


"  Fifty-four 
forty  or 
fight" 


Mississippi  valley,  and  these  resulted  in  the 
calling  of  an  Oregon  convention  at  Cincinnati 
in  July,  1843.^  Nearly  one  hundred  delegates 
were  in  attendance,  and  not  only  the  Mississippi 
valley,  but  the  entire  country  was  interested  in 
their  proceedings. 

This  convention  adopted  resolutions  declar- 
ing that  the  United  States  had  an  undoubted 
right  to  the  country  west  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains between  the  parallel  of  42°  on  the  south 
and  54°  40'  on  the  north.  In  other  words,  the 
line  established  in  1824  to  separate  American 
interests  from  those  of  Russia  was  regarded  as 
the  rightful  northern  boundary  of  the  United 
States  in  the  Pacific  Northwest.  This  would 
have  shut  Great  Britain  out  from  the  territory 
west  of  the  Rockies,  notwithstanding  the  ex- 
plorations of  her  Mackenzies,  her  Thompsons, 
Cooks,  and  Vancouvers;  and  wOuld  have  left 
no  beaver  ground  on  the  Pacific  slope  for  her 
traders,  who  had  controlled  the  commerce  of 
that  region  for  thirty  years. 

This  was  claiming  too  much  for  the  United 
States.  But  there  was  some  slight  ground  for 
it,  and  besides  many  Americans  were  out  of 
patience   with    Great    Britain   for   refusing   to 

^  The  idea  of  a  Mississippi  valley  convention  to  consider  tha 
Oregon  question  originated  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  The  Ohio  States- 
?nan  for  this  period  is  the  best  source  of  information  on  the  entire 
movement.  Its  files  were  consulted  in  the  library  of  the  Wis- 
consin Historical  Society  at  Madison. 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  NEW   ERA  215 

accept  the  compromise  line  of  49°  so  often 
offered.  They  therefore  took  up  the  idea  of 
the  more  northerly  boundary,  and  insisted  that 
the  country  must  go  to  war  with  our  adversary 
rather  than  abandon  any  part  of  the  "  Oregon 
country."  The  next  year  (1844),  when  the  Dem- 
ocratic convention  met  and  nominated  James 
K.  Polk  for  the  presidency,  the  western  dele- 
gates succeeded  in  making  the  Oregon  ques- 
tion a  part  of  their  platform ;  and  so  it  came 
about  that  the  entire  country  was  treated  to  w- 
the  strange  campaign  cry  of  "  Fifty-four  forty  \ 
or  fight,"  which  probably  helped  somewhat  to 
win  the  election  for  Mr.  Polk. 

After  the  failure  to  provide  for  the  north-  The  Oregon 
western  boundary  in  the  Ashburton  Treaty,  ^^^l'^^ 
President  Tyler  had  begun  other  negotiations 
with  the  British  government,  but  always  in 
vain.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  he  went  out 
of  office  with,  as  he  wrote,  the  "  one  wish  re- 
maining unfilled,"  that  he  could  have  settled 
the  Oregon  question.  President  Polk  at  once 
took  it  up,  declared  in  his  inaugural  address 
that  our  claim  to  the  Oregon  country  was  un- 
doubtedly just,  and  soon  entered  into  a  new 
correspondence  with  Great  Britain.  In  spite 
of  the  Democratic  platform  and  campaign  utter- 
ances, he  again  offered  to  compromise  on  the 
49th  parallel.  When  the  British  minister  re- 
fused to  accept  the  offer,  Mr.  Polk  withdrew  it, 


2l6     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

indicating  that  no  further  concession  could  be 
expected  from  the  United  States.  Later  in  the 
year  he  asked  Congress  for  authority  to  put 
an  end  to  the  treaty  of  joint  occupation.  This 
was  granted;  but  many  prominent  members 
like  John  C.  Calhoun,  fearful  that  these  steps 
might  lead  to  war,  urged  the  President  to  give 
Great  Britain  an  opportunity  to  make  some 
offer  on  her  part,  which  he  consented  to  do. 
The  tardy  concession  came  at  last,  June,  1846, 
in  the  shape  of  an  offer  from  the  British  gov- 
ernment to  settle  the  long  dispute  by  taking  the 
49th  parallel  as  the  boundary.  The  President 
^/^  submitted  the  question  to  the  Senate,  which  ad- 
/\  vised  him  to  accept,  and  on  the  15th  of  June 
the  treaty  was  signed.  The  Oregon  question 
was  now  settled,  and  that  in  a  way  which  was 
perfectly  fair  to  all  parties  concerned. 
Oregon  to  Bcforc  the  close  of  the  year  (December  3) 

tlrrit^Ha^  ^^^  pcoplc  of  Orcgou  learned  of  the  signing 
government  of  the  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  and  supposed 
that  the  United  States  would  at  the  next  ses- 
sion of  Congress  establish  a  territorial  govern- 
ment over  them.  This,  indeed,  was  the  desire 
of  the  President,  and  a  bill  for  the  purpose 
actually  passed  the  House  of  Representatives, 
but  could  make  no  progress  in  the  Senate. 
The  reason  was  not  far  to  seek.  In  drawing 
up  the  constitution  for  their  provisional  gov- 
ernment   the    pioneers    inserted    the    famous 


THE   OPENING   OF   A   NEW   ERA  21/ 

clause  from  the  Ordinance  of  1787,  declaring 
that  ''neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude, , 
except  as  a  punishment  for  crime,"  should  ever  y' 
be  permitted  in  the  territory.  This  was  made 
a  part  of  the  Oregon  bill  presented  by  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  of  Illinois,  and  very  naturally 
called  out  the  opposition  of  strong  proslavery 
leaders  like  Calhoun. 

So  the  congressional  session  of   1 846-1 847  President 
closed  with    no   provision   for  Oregon.      The  ggj^^^^^^ 
President  felt  a  deep  interest  in  this  far  west-  Benton 
ern  settlement,  and  caused  Secretary  of  State  the'oregon 
Buchanan   to    write   a   letter    to    the    Oregon  people 
people  encouraging  them  to  expect  favorable 
action  at  the  next  session  of  Congress  (1847- 
1848),  which   was  already  at    hand  when    the 
letter  reached  the  Pacific.     Buchanan  made  no 
clear  statement  of  the  reason  for  the  failure  of 
the   Douglas   bill.      At  about  the  same  time, 
however,  a  letter  was  received  in  Oregon  from 
Senator    Thomas   H.   Benton,  who  threw   the 
blame  upon  Calhoun,  but  declared :  "  You  will 
not  be  outlawed  for  not  admitting  slavery.  .  ,  o       ' 
I  promise  you  this  in  the  name  of  the  South, 
as  well  as  of  the  North."  ... 

It  was  something  to  know  that  the  leaders  Congress 
at  the  national  capital  still  remembered  them;  ^g^i^^^^i^ed 

'^  ^  'to  pass  a 

yet  the  pioneers  had  been  patient  for  a  long  biii;  star- 
time,  waiting  for  the  government  to  give  them  f^oif  orlgon 
some  sort   of  recognition ;    and   now  that  the 


2l8     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

quarrel  with  Great  Britain  was  closed,  it  was 
hard  for  them  to  understand  why  action  should 
be  longer  delayed.  President  Polk  was  as  good 
as  his  word,  recommending  strongly  to  the 
next  Congress  the  passage  of  an  Oregon  bill. 
But  the  opposition  was  at  work  once  more,  as 
in  the  previous  year,  and  might  have  been 
equally  successful  but  for  a  piece  of  startling 
news  carried  across  the  mountains  during  the 
winter  that  roused  public  feeling  in  favor  of 
Oregon,  and  practically  forced  Congress  to  act. 
This  was  the  report  of  the  Whitman  massacre, 
\'  into  the  causes  and  the  history  of  which  we 
must  now  inquire. 

The  missions  planted  on  the  upper  Columbia 
by  Dr.  Whitman  and  his  associates  in  1836  and 
the  years  following  were  influenced  very  little  by 
the  colonizing  movement  described  in  the  pre- 
ceding chapters.  Their  location  on  the  broad 
interior  plains  prevented  them  from  quickly  be- 
coming centers  of  extensive  settlements  like  the 
Willamette  mission,  so  favorably  located  near 
the  coast.  Therefore,  while  western  Oregon  had 
been  growing  into  a  state,  the  up-river  mission- 
aries were  laboring  faithfully  to  teach  the  ele- 
ments of  civilization  to  a  horde  of  barbarous 
natives.  For  a  few  years  their  success  was 
sufficient  to  bring  considerable  encouragement. 
But,  as  the  novelty  of  the  new  life  and  teaching 
wore  off,  the  interest  also  slackened ;  Catholic 


I^B  THE   OPENING   OF  A  NEW  ERA  219 

priests  came  into  the  country,  teaching  by  dif- 
ferent methods  from  those  used  by  the  Prot- 
estants, and  this  tended  to  disturb  the  relations 
between  the  missionaries  and  their  wards; 
worse  than  all,  a  number  of  dissipated,  rene- 
gade Americans  wandered  among  the  tribes, 
doing  all  the  mischief  in  their  power. 

At   last  discouragements   mounted   to  such  Action  of 
a  height  that  the  American  board  at  Boston,  theAmeri- 

^^  ^  can  board 

regarding   the   work   in    Oregon   as  almost   a  closing  the 
complete   failure,  passed  a  resolution  to  close  ^^gl^o^s 
the  missions  at  Waiilatpu  and  Lapwai,  retain- 
ing only  the  one  in  the  north.^     News  of  this 
action  reached  Dr.  Whitman  in  the  fall  of  1842. 
A  meeting  of   the   missionaries   was   at   once 
called,    and   an    agreement    reached    that    the 
missions  should  not  be  given  up.     Moreover, 
Dr.  Whitman  asked  and   received  permission 
from  the  assembly  to  return  to  the  East  and 
lay  the  whole  matter  before  the  board  in  person. 
Whitman  left  his  station  on  the  Walla  Walla 
October   3,  1842,  with  a  single  white  compan-  whitman's 
Jon,  Mr.  A.  L.  Lovejoy,  expecting  to  cross  the  ^i'Jj\''e''/,ije 
mountains  before  the  snows  of  winter  arrived.  October  to 
This  he  might  readily  have  accomplished  had  j£^' '  ^  ^^'' 
all  gone  well;  but  on  reaching  Fort  Hall  he 
learned  that  the  Indians  were  likely  to  arrest 

^  This  action  was  probably  due  to  exaggerated  reports  of  the 
difficulties  in  Oregon  written  by  one  or  two  men  formerly  con- 
nected with  the  missions. 


220     A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

his  progress  if  he  should  continue  by  the  direct 
road,  and  therefore  he  turned  south,  making  the 
long  detour  by  Taos  and  Bent's  Fort.  On  this 
journey  winter  overtook  the  travelers,  violent 
storms  and  deep  snows  impeded  their  march ; 
while  the  biting  cold,  exposure,  and  lack  of 
•  proper  food  would  have  destroyed  any  but  the 
most  hardy  pioneers.  At  last,  early  in  Janu- 
ary, they  reached  Bent's  Fort,  where  Lovejoy 
remained  till  the  following  summer,  while 
Whitman  pushed  on  to  St.  Louis  and  thence 
to  Boston  and  Washington. 
Whitman  in        \Ye  are  fortunate  in  havinsf  two  accounts  of 

the  East  ...  ....  .    ^    .  i       ,      i 

this  mtrepid  missionary  when  he  reached  the 
Atlantic  coast.^  He  wore  his  wilderness  garb  — 
fur  cap,  buckskin  trousers,  and  all  —  to  the  city 
of  New  York  and  into  the  ofhce  of  the  great 
editor,  Horace  Greeley,  who  described  him, 
referring  to  his  clothing,  as  "  the  roughest 
man  we  have  seen  this  many  a  day."  Again, 
on  board  the  steamboat  Narragansett,  going 
from  New  York  to  Boston,  he  impressed  a 
traveler  as  one  of  the  strangest  figures  that 
had  "ever  passed  through  the  Sound  since 
the  days  of  steam  navigation";  yet,  "that  he 
was  every  inch  a  man  and  no  coftimon  one  was 

1  One  is  Horace  Greeley's  editorial,  in  the  New  York  Tribune 
(daily)  of  March  29,  1843;  the  other  a  letter  to  the  New  York 
Spectator,  published  April  5,  1843.  Both  are  reprinted  in  the 
Quarterly  of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society  for  June,  1903. 


/ 


THE  OPENING  OF  A  NEW  ERA  221 

clear."  At  Boston  he  succeeded  in  getting  the 
board  to  withdraw  its  order  to  abandon  the 
missions.  He  wished  them  to  send  out  a  few 
good  families  to  settle  about  the  stations  as 
supports  to  the  missionaries.  At  Washington 
he  urged  the  Secretary  of  War  to  establish 
along  the  Oregon  trail  a  line  of  forts  and 
farming  stations,  which  might  serve  as  a  pro- 
tection against  the  Indians  and  also  furnish  emi- 
grants with  needed  supplies.  By  the  middle  of 
May  he  was  back  at  Independence,  ready  to  take 
up  the  line  of  march  with  the  great  company 
gathering  there.  We  have  already  spoken  of 
his  important  services  on  the  route. 

Although  the    Indians  welcomed  Whitman  Decline  of      \ 
back   in    the   fall  of  1843,  with    every  indica-  f84^\'847'' 
tion  of  pleasure  at  his  safe   return,  yet  from 
this  time  the  missionaries  gradually  lost  their 
power  over  the  surrounding  peoples.^     Their 

^  Mr.  Spalding,  indeed,  wrote  in  June,  1843,  that  "the  cause 
of  religion  and  of  civilization  has  steadily  advanced  among  this 
people  from  the  beginning."  He  declared  that  at  his  station 
twelve  Indians  were  members  of  the  church,  and  more  than 
fifty  had  been  received  on  probation ;  the  school,  which  was 
exceptionally  prosperous,  had  increased  from  one  hundred  to 
two  hundred  and  thirty-four,  chiefs  and  other  great  men  as 
well  as  the  children  learning  to  read  and  to  print.  Sixty 
families  had  each  raised  over  one  hundred  bushels  of  grain, 
and  the  herds  were  increasing  rapidly.  There  is  scarcely  a 
doubt,  however,  that  so  far  as  the  school  was  concerned,  and 
probably  in  other  respects,  Lapwai  was  at  this  time  the  most 
prosperous  of  the  mission  stations,  and  this  report  is  the  most 
cheering  one  that  we  get. 


222     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

letters  thenceforth  contained  many  complaints, 
showing  that  conditions  were  becoming  more 
and  more  disheartening.  By  the  close  of  the 
year  1845  it  seemed  to  them  that  the  only  thing 
that  could  save  the  missions  was  the  settlement 
of  Christian  families  in  the  country,  as  Whitman 
had  advocated  for  several  years.  But  such  help 
failed  to  come,  and  the  lonely  workers  in  this 
great  wilderness  were  left  alone  to  meet  the 
awful  fate  which  was  about  to  ingulf  them. 
The  crisis  Bcforc  the  end  of  the  summer  of  1847  rnany 

reached,        ^£  ^-^^  Cayuscs  bccamc   so  surly  and  insolent 

1847;  causes  -^  J 

of  hostility  that  Whitman  seems  to  have  thought  seriously 
of  abandoning  Waiilatpu  and  removing  with  his 
family  either  to  the  Dalles  or  to  the  Willamette 
valley.  Unfortunately  this  plan  was  too  long 
delayed.  When  the  emigrants  of  that  year  ar- 
rived, many  of  their  children  were  sick  with  the 
measles,  a  disease  which  spon  spread  rapidly 
among  the  Indians  as  well.  Dr.  Whitman 
treated  both  the  whites  and  the  Indians;  but 
while  the  former  usually  recovered  quickly,  the 
latter,  on  account  of  their  unwholesome  mode 
of  life,  died  off  in  alarming  numbers.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  this  was  so,  but  it  could 
not  be  expected  that  the  natives  would  under- 
I  stand  the  true  reason  for  it.  What  they  saw 
was  that  Whitman  was  saving  the  whites  and 
letting  their  own  people  perish.  Nay,  was  he 
not  actually  causing  their  death  by  administer- 


THE   OPENING   OF   A  NEW  ERA  223 

ing  poison  instead  of  the  medicine  he  pretended 
to  be  giving  them  ?  This  suspicion,  horrible  to 
contemplate,  took  fast  hold  upon  the  minds  of 
the  Cayuses,  and  was  the  immediate  cause  of 
their  determination  to  kill  Dr.  Whitman  as 
they  were  accustomed  to  kill  sorcerers  in  their 
own  tribe,  who,  as  they  believed,  sometimes 
caused  deaths  among  them. 

The  blow  fell  on  the  afternoon  of  the  29th  Themassa- 
of    November,    1847,  when   Dr.  Whitman,  his  j^^e,  Novem- 

.      .  ber  29,  1847 

wife,  and  seven  other  persons  at  the  mission 
were  put  to  death  in  the  most  barbarous 
manner.  Five  more  victims  followed  within 
a  few  days;  while  half  a  hundred  women  and 
children,  largely  emigrants  who  were  stopping 
at  the  station,  were  held  as  captives  in  one  of 
the  mission  houses. 

The  savages  supposed  that  by  keeping  con-  Rescue  of 
trol  of  these  helpless  ones  they  could  save  them-  ^^? 

^     ^  J  ^  prisoners 

selves  from  the  vengeance  of  the  white  settlers 
in  Oregon ;  for  they  gave  out  word  that  all  cap- 
tives would  be  put  to  death  at  the  first  news  of 
war  from  down  the  river.  Fortunately,  before 
this  came,  Peter  Skeen  Osfden  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  arrived  from  Vancouver,  pushing 
through  at  the  utmost  speed  on  learning  of  the 
massacre^,  to  try  to  save  the  captives.  It  was 
no  easy  matter  to  do  this ;  but  by  exerting  all 
his  influence  and  authority,  Mr.  Ogden  finally 
succeeded   in    ransoming    not   alone   those   at 


t 


of  war 


224    A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Waiilatpu,  but  the  people  at  the  Spalding 
mission  as  well  —  a  total  of  fifty-seven  persons. 
All  were  taken  down  the  river,  finding  friends 
and  homes  among  the  settlers  of  the  Willa- 
mette valley,  where  they  were  soon  joined  by 
the  missionaries  from  the  northern  station.^ 
Declaration  When  the  news  of  the  massacre  reached  the 
Willamette  valley  (December  8),  it  produced 
the  wildest  alarm.  No  one  knew  how  far  this 
atrocity  might  be  the  result  of  a  union  among 
the  up-river  tribes  for  the  purpose  of  destroying 
all  of  the  white  people  in  Oregon.  They  pro- 
posed, however,  not  to  wait  till  the  Indians 
could  reach  the  valley,  but  to  send  a  force  of 
men  up  the  river  at  once.  So  great  was  the 
excitement  and  enthusiasm  that  in  a  single  day 
a  company  of  troops  was  raised,  equipped  as 
well  as  possible,  furnished  with  a  flag  made 
by  the  women  of  Oregpn  City,  and  hurried  for- 
ward to  the  scene  of  danger.  In  a  short  time 
an  entire  regiment  was  provided,  by  means  of 
which,  in  the  space  of  a  few  months,  the  Cay- 
uses  were  severely  punished,  and  peace  with  its 
blessings  was  once  more  restored  to  the  Ore- 
gon colony.^ 

^  A  generation  after  these  events  took  place  Jesse  Applegate 
alluded  feelingly  to  this  service  of  Mr.  Ogden  as  "  an  act  of  pure 
mercy  and  philanthropy,  which  money  could  neither  hire  nor 
reward." 

2  The  Indians  who  committed  the  murders  were  afterward 
secured,  tried,  and  executed. 


THE   OPENING  OF  A  NEW  ERA  225 

But  the  war  was  a  severe  drain  upon  the  strong  feei- 
people.  The  provisional  government  had  no  c^n^fesT*^ 
funds,  and  money  had  to  be  raised  in  order  to 
keep  men  in  the  field.  The  difficulty  was  nobly 
met;  well-to-do  settlers,  merchants,  and  others 
loaned  money,  and  farmers  generally  furnished 
supplies  of  grain  and  other  food.  Large  quan- 
tities of  goods  were  purchased  of  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  practically  as  a  loan,  although 
individual  settlers  gave  their  notes  by  way  of 
security.  It  was  generally  expected  that  the 
United  States  government  would  take  this 
burden  of  debt  upon  itself,  this  being  the  least 
it  could  do  to  make  amends  for  leaving  the 
people  of  Oregon  so  long  defenseless.  At  this 
crucial  time,  when  the  colony  was  shrouded  in 
the  darkest  gloom,  men  remembered  the  nu- 
merous appeals  which  had  vainly  gone  up  from 
this  far-off  valley  to  the  national  capital,  and  a 
feeling  of  bitterness  against  a  seemingly  un- 
grateful government  was  mingled  with  their  ^ 
grief  and  fears.  Had  Congress  done  its  duty, 
so  they  believed,  this  evil  would  not  have 
befallen  them. 

In  the  excitement  of  those  December  days  Lastme- 
the  Oregon  leaders  prepared  a  ringing  memo-  ^o^aito 
rial  to  the  national  legislature,  and  started  "  Joe  " 
Meek   eastward    to    carry   it    to    Washington.     \/ 
"  Having  called  upon  the  government  so  often 
in  vain,"  they  say,  "  we  have  almost  despaired  of 

Q 


226     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

receiving  its  protection ;  yet  we  trust  that  our 
present  situation,  when  fully  laid  before  you, 
will  at  once  satisfy  your  honorable  body  of  the 
necessity  of  extending  the  strong  arm  of  guard- 
ianship and  protection  over  this  distant,  but 
beautiful  portion  of  the  United  States'  domain. 
Our  relations  with  the  proud  and  powerful 
tribes  of  Indians  residing  east  of  the  Cascade 
Mountains,  hitherto  uniformly  amicable  and 
pacific,  have  recently  assumed  quite  a  different 
character.  They  have  shouted  the  war  whoop, 
and  crimsoned  their  tomahawks  in  the  blood 
of  our  citizens.  .  .  .  Circumstances  warrant 
your  memorialists  in  believing  that  many  of 
the  powerful  tribes  .  .  .  have  formed  an  alli- 
ance for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on  hostilities 
against  our  settlements.  .  .  .  To  repel  the  at- 
tacks of  so  formidable  a  foe,  and  protect  our 
families  and  property  from  violence  and  rapine, 
will  require  more  strength  than  we  possess 
.  .  .  we  have  a  right  to  expect  your  aid,  and 
you  are  in  justice  bound  to  extend  it.  .  .  .  If 
it  be  at  all  the  intention  of  our  honored  parent 
to  spread  her  guardian  wings  over  her  sons  and 
daughters  in  Oregon,  she  surely  will  not  refuse 
to  do  it  now,  when  they  are  struggling  with  all 
the  ills  of  a  weak  and  temporary  government, 
and  when  perils  are  daily  thickening  around 
them,  and  preparing  to  burst  upon  their  heads. 
When    the   ensuing  summer's  sun   shall  have 


THE   OPENING   OF   A   NEW   ERA  22/ 

dispelled  the  snow  from  the  mountains,  we  shall 
look  with  glowing  hopes  and  restless  anxiety 
for  the  coming  of  your  laws  and  your  arms." 

Joe  Meek,  accompanied  by  nine  sturdy  asso-  The  news 
ciates,  set  out  from  the  headquarters  of  the  J^^  ^^  ^"^" 
army  at  Waiilatpu  on  the  4th  of  March,  1848, 
and  in  just  sixty-six  days  reached  St.  Joseph, 
Missouri.  Six  days  later  (May  17)  he  arrived 
at  St.  Louis,  and  now  the  dreadful  story  of  the 
Whitman  massacre  was  flashed  all  over  the 
land,  producing  a  feeling  of  sympathy  and  x/ 
anxiety  for  the  Oregon  people  that  nothing  m/ 
their  previous  history  had  been  able  to  excite. 
Meek  went  to  Washington  and  laid  his  dis- 
patches before  President  Polk.  They  were  at 
once  sent  to  Congress,  together  with  a  message 
calling  on  that  body  to  act,  and  act  quickly,  in 
order  that  troops  might  be  hurried  to  the  de- 
fense of  Oregon  before  the  end  of  the  summer. 
No  great  haste  was  possible,  for  the  question 
of  slavery  was  beginning  to  overshadow  all  else, 
and  the  strongest  passions  were  aroused  on  this 
subject  in  the  course  of  the  debate  on  the  Ore- 
gon bill.  Yet  so  much  general  interest  was 
felt  in  the  safety  of  Oregon  that  the  measure 
was  finally  passed,  just  before  the  adjournment 
of  Congress,  August  1 3,  after  a  continuous  ses- 
sion of  twenty-one  hours. 

President  Polk  signed  the  bill  and  appointed  \' 
General  Joseph  Lane  of   Indiana  governor  of 


228     A   HISTORY   OF  THE  PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


The  terri- 
tory of 
Oregon; 
General 
Lane  gov- 
ernor 


the  territory  of  Oregon.     Joe  Meek  was  givei 
the  office  of  United  States  marshal  in  the  ne^ 

government.  Govn 
ernor  Lane,  Meek,^ 
and  a  number  of 
others  started  for 
Oregon  by  way  of 
Santa  Fe  and 
California  late  in 
August.  They 
succeeded,  though 
with  much  diffi- 
culty, in  reaching 
San  Francisco, 
where  the  governor 
and  marshal  took 
ship  for  the  Colum- 
bia. They  arrived 
at  Oregon  City  March  2,  1849,  and  on  the  fol- 
lowing day  the  new  territorial  government  was 
proclaimed.^ 

^  This  was  the  day  before  Polk's  administration  came  to  an 
end.  General  Lane  acted  as  governor  less  than  two  years,  re- 
signing in  June,  1850.  In  1851  he  was  elected  to  represent  the 
territory  in  Congress,  and  filled  the  office  until  1859,  when  he 
took  his  seat  as  one  of  the  United  States  senators  from  Oregon. 
In  i860  he  was  nominated  for  Vice  President  on  the  ticket  with 
John  C.  Breckenridge.     He  died  in  1881. 


General  Joseph  Lane. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE    NORTHWEST    AND    CALIFORNIA 

For  most  Americans  the  history  of  the  Conditions 
Pacific  coast  had  thus  far  been  summed  up  California 
in  the  story  of  Oregon.  The  Mexican  (until 
182 1  the  Spanish)  territory  south  of  the  parallel 
of  42°  had  sometimes  attracted  the  notice  of 
public  men,  and  once  or  twice  produced  some 
effect  upon  the  government's  plans  concerning 
Oregon.  But  until  about  1840  very  little  atten- 
tion was  paid  to  this  vast  province,  where  four 
or  five  thousand  people  were  living  in  compar- 
ative idleness,  scattered  about  through  the 
valleys  and  over  the  plains  of  that  fair  and 
sunny  land.  The  principal  occupation  was 
the  keeping  of  herds,  which  required  little 
labor.  The  "  Boston  Ships,''  as  the  American 
traders  were  called,  plied  up  and  down  the 
long  coast  line,  visiting  the  harbors  and  inlets 
where  they  exchanged  groceries  and  manu- 
factured goods  for  the  cartloads  of  beef  hides 
and  bags  of  tallow  brought  down  from  the 
ranches. 

Sometimes  sailors,  attracted  by  the  easy  life  Americans 
of  the  Calif ornians,  deserted  from  these  vessels  California 

229 


230     A    HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

and  became  residents  in  the  country.  Other 
Americans  came  overland  as  hunters  and 
trappers,  Hke  Jedediah  Smith,  Ewing  Young, 
and  the  Walker  party  sent  out  by  Captain 
Bonneville.  Many  of  them  remained  to  marry 
native  women,  secure  grants  of  land,  and  be- 
come citizens.  After  a  time  the  region  became 
pretty  well  known  among  the  class  of  frontiers- 
men who  were  beginning  to  go  to  Oregon,  and 
in  1 84 1  the  first  emigrant  train  made  its  way 
overland,  partly  by  the  Oregon  trail,  to  the 
\  Sacramento  valley.  Thereafter  the  annual 
migrations  to  the  far  West  were  usually 
divided,  a  portion  branching  off  at  Fort  Hall 
to  go  to  California,  although  Oregon  still  re- 
ceived by  far  the  larger  share. 
Captain  In   1 839  Captain  John  A.  Sut:ter,  formerly  a 

soldier  in  the  Swiss  army,  went  to  California 
by  way  of  Oregon,  and  in  1841  he  secured  from 
the  Mexican  governor  eleven  square  leagues 
of  land  in  the  Sacramento  valley.  He  built  a 
strong  fort  of  adobes  on  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Sacramento,  began  raising  grain  and 
cattle  on  a  large  scale,  and  also  traded  with 
the  Indians  for  furs.  Sutter  employed  a  num- 
ber of  Americans  upon  his  estate,  and  by 
furnishing  supplies  to  others  enabled  them  to 
settle  in  this  interior  section  of  California. 
The  fort  was  on  the  main  emigrant  routes 
from    the    United    States  and    Oregon,    which 


Sutter  and 
Sutter's  Fort 


I 


THE   NORTHWEST   AND   CALIFORNIA        23 1 


helped  to  make  it  in  a  few  years  the  center  of 
the  most  important  American  community  in 
the  country. 

The    Mexican   government  was    not   strong  Rumors  of 
during   this   period  even  at   home,  while    the  ^^"^ 
great  distance  to  California  from  the  Mexican 
capital,  the  difficulties  of  communication,  and 
the  scattered  condition  of  the  population  made 


Sutter's  Fort  in  1849. 

her  rule  in  this  province  so  feeble  as  to  be 
almost  ridiculous.  The  result  was  numerous 
revolutions,  in  which  the  Americans  usually 
took  part,  and  such  a  state  of  political  unrest 
that  men  accustomed  to  a  settled  and  strong 
government  could  scarcely  be  blamed  for  wish- 
ing a  change.  The  interest  which  the  United 
States  already  had  in  Oregon,  the  continued 
emigration  of  her  people  by  sea  and  land  to 
California,  the   letters  written   back   by   these 


232      A    HISTORY    OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

emigrants,  the  reports  of  official  visitors  and 
the  books  of  far  West  travelers  produced  a 
feeling  that  our  country  must  finally  become 
possessed  of  the  southern  as  well  as  the  north- 
ern section  of  the  Pacific  coast.  After  1836 
there  was  always  danger  of  war  between  the 
United  States  and  Mexico  over  the  question 
of  annexing  Texas  to  the  Union,  thus  increas- 
ing the  feeling  of  uncertainty  respecting  Cali- 
fornia. It  was  well  understood  that  in  case 
of  hostilities  this  province  would  doubtless  be 
captured  by  the  American  fleet.^ 
The  Bear  By  the  Spring  of  1846  there  were  several  hun- 

lune  ^846*^'  ^^^^  Americans  scattered  through  the  country, 
the  most  numerous  body  of  them  in  the  vicinity 
of  Sutter's  Fort.  Lieutenant  John  C.  Fre- 
mont, the  "  Pathfinder,"  with  his  surveying 
party,  had  wintered  in  California,  where  he  came 
into  conflict  with  the  government  authorities. 
He  then  marched  north  toward  Oregon,  but 
turned  back  from  Klamath  Lake  on  receiving 
a  visit  from  Gillespie,  a  secret  agent  of  the 
United  States.  The  settlers  about  the  fort 
became  convinced  from  his  actions  that  war 
had  broken  out,  and  some  of  them  decided  that 
it  would  be  the  proper  thing  for  them  to  declare 

*  In  1842  Commodore  Jones,  believing  that  war  had  broken 
out  between  the  two  nations,  actually  took  possession  of  Monterey 
and  hoisted  the  American  flag.  He  gave  up  the  place  a  few 
hours  later  on  learning  his  mistake. 


I 


THE   NORTHWEST   AND   CALIFORNIA         233 

California  independent  of  Mexico.  This  they 
did  at  Sonoma,  June  14,  1846,  raising  the 
famous  lone  star  flag  with  the  rudely  painted 
figure  of  a  bear  upon  it  (the  "  Bear  Flag  " ). 

Now  followed  an  armed  conflict,  which  might  The  war  of 
perhaps  have  been  avoided,  between  the  United  ^""""i"^^^ 
States  and  the  Californians.  Fremont  took 
a  prominent  part  in  it,  as  did  also  Commo- 
dore Stockton  of  the  American  fleet.  The 
United  States  government  sent  General  Kearny 
to  California  by  way  of  Santa  Fe,  and  after  a 
few  months  of  fighting  the  territory  came  defi- 
nitely into  American  hands.  When  the  treaty  of 
peace  was  signed,  February  2,  1848,  the  con- 
quest was  confirmed  to  us.  A  military  gov- 
ernment had  already  been  established,  the  laws 
changed  somewhat  in  accordance  with  Ameri- 
can ideas,  and  a  new  system  of  administration 
substituted  for  that  formerly  maintained  by 
Mexico. 

It  was  expected   that  these   changes  would  The  gold 
promote    the    prosperity    of    California,    which    ^^^^"^^^^ 
might  at  last  hope  to  become  a  rival  of  Oregon 
upon  the  Pacific  coast.^     But  no  one  dreamed 

1  When  the  Bear  Flag  Revolt  occurred,  Captain  Sutter  (who 
was  a  German  Swiss  and  never  mastered  the  English  language 
perfectly)  wrote  exultantly  to  a  friend,  "  What  for  progress  will 
California  make  now!"  The  manuscript  letter  from  which  this 
is  quoted  is  in  possession  of  Mr.  P.  J.  Healy  of  San  Francisco, 
who  kindly  permitted  the  writer  to  examine  his  valuable  col- 
lection. 


234 


A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


X 


of  the  wonderful  transformation  about  to  take 
place.  On  the  24th  of  January,  ten  days  before 
the  treaty  of  peace  was  signed,  James  W.  Mar- 
shall made  his  world-famous  discovery  of  gold 
on  the  American  River,  some  fifty  miles  above 
Sutter'3.  Fort.  He  and  Captain  Sutter  wished 
to  keep  the  benefits  of  the  find  to  themselves, 
but  the  secret  escaped,  as  great  secrets  usu- 
ally do,  and  in  a  few  weeks  the  inhabitants 
of  California  were  hurrying  north  with  shovel 
and  pan,  hoping  to  wash  quick  fortunes  out  of 
the  sands  brought  down  from  the  mysterious 
Sierras.  So  great  did  the  "  rush  "  become  that 
at  San  Francisco  and  other  towns  ordinary 
lines  of  business  were  suspended,  stores,  ware- 
houses, and  even  printing  oilfices  were  deserted, 
vessels  touching  at  San  Francisco  had  to  re- 
main in  port  because  the  crews  escaped  to 
the  mines.  Picks,  shovels,  and  pans  rose  to 
famine  prices. 

Before  the  summer  closed  news  of  the  dis- 
covery had  reached  Oregon,  producing  an 
excitement  scarcely  less  intense  than  that 
caused  by  the  Indian  war  just  ended.  Resolu- 
tions were  instantly  taken,  plans  made,  and  in 
a  few  days  a  company  was  on  its  way  south- 
ward. Soon  a  regular  tide  of  travel,  on  foot, 
by  pack  train,  and  wagon,  set  in  across  the  Sis- 
kiyous.  Oregon  lost  within  a  single  year  a 
very  large  proportion  of  its  male  inhabitants. 


THE   NORTHWEST   AND   CALIFORNIA         235 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  men  passed  into 
this  new  emigration ;  for  example,  Peter  H. 
Burnett,  soon  to  become  the  first  governor  of 
the  state  of  CaHfornia.  When  General  Lane 
and  Joe  Meek  reached  San  Francisco  on  their 
way  northward,  they  saw  numbers  of  Oregon 
men,  some  of  whom,  leaving  the  Willamette 
valley  or  Puget  Sound  almost  penniless,  were 
already  returning  to  their  families  with  thou- 
sands of  dollars  in  gold  dust. 

The  news  was  carried   across  the   Rockies,  The  "Forty- 
and  before  the  arrival  of  winter  hundreds,  thou-  prog^eL^f 
sands,  on  the  Atlantic  coast  were  preparing  for  California 
the    voyage    to    Panama,   expecting    to    cross 
the  Isthmus  and 'take  ship  to    San  Francisco. 
Others  in    the  interier  impatiently  waited  till 
the   grass    should    start    in   the   spring,   when 
twenty-five    thousand    persons,    in    an    almost 
continuous   caravan,  moved    westward    to   the 
valley  of  the  Sacramento.     But  this  was  only 
the  beginning.     Mcinth  after  month,  and  year 
after  year,  the  excited  multitudes  pressed  on  to 
this  new  El  Dorado.     All  were  looking  for  the     , 
golden  treasure ;  but  while  most  men  sought  it 
in  the  river  drift,  many  took  the  surer  methods 
of  carrying  supplies  to  the  mines,  or  of  cultivat- 
ing the  soil  in  order  to  produce  flour,  bacon, 
fruit,  and   other  necessities  which  during   the 
early  years  of  the  gold  rush  brought  such  fabu- 
lous   prices.       Hundreds    of    new    occupations 


236     A   HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

were  opened,  and  fortunes  made  in  the  most 
diverse  ways.  No  young  western  community 
had  ever  been  advertised  as  was  California 
during  these  years ;  and  few,  even  of  the  most 
prosperous,  had  grown  as  rapidly  as  she. 

The  mining  camps  were  soon  extended  so  as 
to  embrace  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  west 
emporium  of  of  thc  Sicrras ;  towns  like  Stockton  and  Sac- 
^,^^gj  ramento  grew  up  as  mterior  supply  stations; 

while  San  Francisco,  at  the  great  harbor  of 
California,  rose  at  one  bound  to  be  the  place  of 
chief  importance  among  Pacific  coast  seaports. 
Here  was  the  emporium  of  all  the  trade  of  this 
rapidly  growing  population,  having  relations 
with  the  eastern  coast,  with  Mexico,  Central 
and  South  America,  Australia,  Hawaii,  and  in 
general  all  countries  interested  in  the  trade  of 
the  great  gold-producing  territory  which  for- 
tune had  recently  tossed  into  the  lap  of  the 
United  States.  Men  from  the  eastern  cities 
employed  their  capital  and  their  business  skill 
in  building  up  at  San  Francisco  great  com- 
mercial establishments,  whose  influence  has 
been  felt  throughout  the  later  course  of  Pacific 
coast  history.  They  did  not  confine  them- 
selves to  California,  but  came  northward  to  the 
Columbia  River,  to  Puget  Sound,  and  the 
smaller  harbors  along  the  Northwest  Coast ;  to 
the  interior  districts  of  the  Oregon  country, 
wherever  opportunities  for  profitable  commerce 


i 


THE   NORTHWEST   AND   CALIFORNIA         237 

were  to  be  found.  San  Francisco's  population 
of  a  few  hundred  in  1848  grew  by  i860  to 
more  than  56,000,  in  another  decade  it  became 
150,000,  and  by  1880  exceeded  a  quarter  of  a 
milHon. 

We  cannot  follow  this  wonderful  movement  change  in 
in  detail,  but  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  discovery  ^^f  p^^l^^f 
of  gold  produced  startling  changes  in  the  rela-  coast 
tions  between  the  northern  and  southern  sec-    '^  ^^^ 
tions  of  the  Pacific  slope.     When  the  Oregon 
bill  was  before  Congress  in  the  spring  of  1848, 
some  wished  to  couple  with  it  a  bill  for  a  Cali- 
fornia and  a  New  Mexican  territory  also ;  but 
others  declared  that  the  "  native-born  "  territory 
of  Oregon  should  not  be  unequally  yoked  with 
"  territories  scarcely  a  month  old,  and  peopled 
by    Mexicans     and    half- Indian    Calif ornians." 
Two  years  after  this  incident  California  had  a 
population,    mainly   American,  of   92,000   and 
was  ready  for  statehood,  ten  years  later  she  had 
380,000,  and  in  another  decade  more  than  half 
a  million  ;  while  the  territory  of  Oregon,  which 
in  1850  included  the  entire  district  west  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  and  north  of  California,  had 
in  that  year  less  than  14,000  people.     By  1870 
the   Pacific  Northwest,  then   divided  into  the  ^ 
state   of   Oregon    and    the    two   territories   of 
Washington   and    Idaho,  had  a  total    popula- 
tion   of   only    130,000   as   against    California's 
560,000.  ^^ 

V  of 


238    A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

California  Thcsc  facts  tell  the  story  of  how  the  natural 

theNorth-"^'  course  of  the  Pacific  coast's  development  was 
west  changed  by  the  magic  of  gold.     The  long  list 

of  American  explorers,  traders,  and  mission- 
aries, whose  deeds  and  sacrifices  glorify  the 
early  history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  were 
largely  forgotten  by  a  nation  entranced  with 
the  story  of  the  "  Forty^iners."  The  far- 
reaching  influence  of  Oregon  as  the  oldest 
American  territory  on  the  Pacific  coast  faded 
quickly  from  the  memories  of  men.  The 
Oregon  Trail  was  already  deep  worn  through 
the  sand  hills  along  the  Platte  and  Sweetwater, 
Bear  River,  and  the  Portneuf,  by  the  wagons  of 
the  Oregon  pioneers ;  it  was  lined  with  the 
crumbling  bones  of  their  cattle,  and  marked  by 
the  graves  of  their  dead ;  yet  instantly,  after 
the  passage  of  the  thronging  multitudes  of  '49, 
it  became  the  "  California  Trail,"  and  to  this 
day  most  men  know  it  by  no  other  name. 
California,  in  a  word,  so  completely  over- 
shadowed the  Northwest  in  wealth,  in  com- 
merce, and  in  population,  that  to  the  people  of 
the  country  in  general  this  state  has  seemed  to 
be  about  all  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

— ^ 


CHAPTER    XVI 

PROGRESS    AND    POLITICS,    1849-1859 

The  relations  between  the   Northwest   and  California's 
California   were    naturally  very  close.      Those  ^f^tt^^^'^ 

•'  -^  ^  Northwest 

Oregon  men  who  went  to  the  gold  mines  were 
seasoned  pioneers,  who  had  already  partly 
conquered  and  civilized  one  great  section 
of  the  Pacific  coast.  They  were  a  valuable 
element  in  the  new  and  mixed  population  that 
now  poured  into  the  southern  territory,  helping 
to  bring  order  out  of  disorder,  and  to  establish 
an  effective  government  for  the  new  state  as 
they  had  already  done  for  their  own  colony. 
It  is  of  course  impossible,  as  well  as  unnecessary, 
to  measure  California's  debt  to  the  Northwest 
during  the  early  years  of  the  gold  rush ;  but  it 
was  undoubtedly  very  great. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  is  much  truth  in  NewCaiifor- 
the  claim  that  the  rapid  development  of  Cali-  ^^Lt'^fJ^w 
fornia  gave  an  entirely  new  aspect  to  life  in  the  Northwest 
Northwest.     The  first  effect  of   the  gold   dis- 
covery was  to  draw  away  one  half  or  perhaps 
two  thirds  of  the  able-bodied  men  of  Oregon, 
and  to  leave  the  country  with  insufficient  labor 

239 


\ 


240     A   HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

to   cultivate    the   fields   already   opened.     But 
this  was   only   a   temporary   drawback.      The 
mines  afforded  a  wonderful  market  for  every- 
thing   the    northern     region    could    produce. 
Packers  visited  the  farms,  buying  up  the  sur- 
plus flour,  meat,  lard,  butter,  eggs,  vegetables, 
and  fruits.     A  large  number  of  boats  entered 
the  Columbia,  ascending  to  the  new  village  of 
Portland  on  the  Willamette,  where  they  took  on 
cargoes  of  provisions  as  rapidly  as  these  could  be 
collected  from  up  the  river.     Cargoes  of  lumber 
were  carried  away  from  the   mills  already  es- 
tablished, and  these  proving  insufficient  to  meet 
the   demand,  others  were  built    and   put    into 
operation  at  various  points  along  the  Columbia. 
JFarmers,   merchants,    laborers,    manufacturers, 
speculators,    in   fact   all    classes   of   settlers  in 
Oregon,  reaped  a  magnificent  harvest  from  the 
filling  up  of  California,  and  the  new  wealth  of    j 
gold.     Debts  were  canceled,  homes  improved,    ' 
and  the  conditions  of  life  made  easier  and  more 
pleasant  than   they   had  been   in    the   strictly 
pioneer  time  ;  new  enterprises  of  all  sorts  were 
started  in  the  Willamette  settlement,  machinery    : 
was  imported  for  the  use  of  the  farmer,  roads     i 
opened,  and  steamboats  placed  upon  the  rivers.    ] 
The   new  territorial  government,  which  fortu-    i 
nately  came  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
age,  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  people  in  many 
ways.     Among  other  things  it  enabled  them  to 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  241 

make  some  provision  for  a  system  of  common 
schools,^  and  to  secure  for  this  region  a  cheaper, 
more  frequent,  and  regular  mail  service.  Under 
these  circumstances  the  population  increased 
much  more  rapidly  than  formerly ;  in  spite  of 
the  glittering  attractions  of  California  property 
rose  in  value  and  general  prosperity  prevailed. 

When  the  discovery  of  gold  was  first  reported  Prosperity 
in  the  autumn  of  1848,  there  were  only  a  few  slund^^^^* 
settlers  on  Puget  Sound,  most  of  whom  were  colony 
engaged  in  making  shingles  and  getting  out 
timber  for  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company.  This 
was  almost  their  only  means  of  securing  the 
supplies  needed  to  support  their  families. 
About  twenty-five  of  the  men  immediately  set 
out  for  the  gold  mines,  leaving  a  very  small 
remnant  of  population  in  the  country.  In  a 
few  months  many  of  them  returned  with  an 
abundance  of  money,  to  be  used  in  making 
improvements.  Samuel  Hancock  tells  us  that 
when  he  came  back  to  Olympia  in  the  fall  of 
1849,  after  spending  a  year  in  the  mines, 
"everything  bore  the  impress  of  prosperity." 
Among  other   things   a   grist   mill   had   been 

^The  pioneers  of  the  Northwest  showed  commendable  enterprise 
in  the  establishment  of  high-grade  schools,  the  earliest  of  which 
was  the  Oregon  Institute  founded  by  the  Methodist  missionaries 
at  Salem  in  1841.  It  afterward  grew  into  the  Willamette  Uni- 
versity. The  second  was  Tualatin  Academy,  the  beginning  of  * 
Pacific  University.  Common  schools  were  also  maintained  by 
private  subscription  before  the  public  school  system  went  into  eifect. 


242     A  HISTORY   OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

erected,  which  was  of  great  benefit  to  the  com- 
munity. 
Beginnings        The  Settlement   on    Puget  Sound   received 
on  Pugef  "^  special   benefits   from   the   great    demand   for 
Sound  lumber  which  came   from  San  Francisco  and 

the  other  California  towns.  No  portion  of  the 
Pacific  Northwest  was  better  fitted  by  nature  to 
supply  this  need;  for  here  the  forests  usually 
came  down  to  the  waters  edge,  while  many  of 
the  smaller  inlets,  some  of  them  excellent  har- 
bors for  ocean  vessels,  afforded  the  very  best 
sites  for  sawmills.  Early  in  the  year  1849  the 
brig  Orbit  put  into  Budd's  Inlet  (Olympia) 
for  a  load  of  piles.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
the  lumber  trade  with  San  Francisco.  In  a 
short  time  mills  were  running  near  Olympia 
(Tumwater),  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dewamish 
(Seattle),  at  Steilacoom,  Cape  Flattery,  New 
Dungeness,  Port  Townsend,  and  other  places. 
With  lumber  selling  at  sixty  dollars  per  thou- 
sand feet,  as  it  did  for  a  time,  the  business  was 
immensely  profitable. 

Aside  from  lumber  the  California  communi- 
ties were  in  great  need  of  fuel,  and  the  people 
of  San  Francisco  made  anxious  inquiries  about 
the  possibility  of  getting  coal  near  the  harbors 
of  the  Northwest  Coast.'  An  inferior  quality 
had  been  found  north  of  the  Columbia  before 
1850.  In  1 85 1  Samuel  Hancock  began  search- 
ing near  Puget  Sound,  and  with  the  help  of  the 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  243 

natives  found  what  seemed  to  be  an  important 
deposit  of  this  useful  mineral.  Other  discov- 
eries were  made  at  later  times  on  Bellingham 
Bay,  near  Seattle,  and  at  other  points  all  con- 
venient to  good  harbors.  Some  of  these  were 
soon  worked,  with  the  result  that  thousands  of 
tons  of  coal  were  shipped  to  San  Francisco 
annually.  All  of  these  things  brought  about  a 
very  prosperous  condition  in  the  little  colony. 

Since  the  country  south  of  the  Columbia  increase  in 
had  been  settling  up  for  a  comparatively  long  p°p^^^^^ 
time,  the  lands  there  had  been  pretty  carefully 
picked  over;  and  this  fact,  together  with  the 
commercial  advantages  of  Puget  Sound,  caused 
some  of  the  emigrants  of  these  years  to  go 
northward  in  search  of  homes.  The  lumber 
mills  gave  employment,  while  the  explorations 
in  search  of  coal,  and  for  other  purposes,  were 
bringing  to  light  new  farming  lands  in  the 
rich  valleys  back  from  the  Sound,  where  the 
settlers  now  began  to  take  claims.  But  for 
several  years  little  progress  was  made  in  agri- 
culture, flour  and  seed  grain  actually  being  im- 
ported from  San  Francisco  at  great  expense  in 
exchange  for  a  portion  of  the  lumber  sent 
down.  The  census  of  1850  gives  mi  as  the 
total  population  north  of  the  Columbia.  Three 
years  later  a  special  enumeration  showed  3965. 
In  that  year,  for  the  first  time,  Puget  Sound 
drew  a  considerable  part  of  the  emigration  to 


244      A   HISTORY   OF' THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  Northwest,  thirty-five  wagons  crossing  the 
Cascades  by  a  new  road  which  the  northern 
settlers  had  opened  from  the  Yakima  River  to 
Olympia. 

The  people  about  Puget  Sound  found  them- 
selves completely  separated  from  those  on  the 
Willamette,  and  living  as  it  were  in  a  world  of 
their  own.  This  was  due  largely  to  the  diffi- 
culty of  communication  between  the  Columbia 
River  and  the  Sound.  The  feeling  was 
strengthened  by  the  fact  that  all  the  regular 
trade  of  this  section  was  with  San  Francisco. 
Since  their  situation  rendered  them  independ- 
ent of  the  Columbia  River  commercially,  they 
came  to  believe  that  their  country  should  also 
have  a  separate  government.  Agitation  for 
dividing  the  territory  began  in  1851,  and  the 
next  year  matters  were  brought  to  a  head.  In 
September,  1852,  a  newspaper  called  the  Co- 
lumbian^ was  begun  at  Olympia  for  the  pur- 
pose of  advocating  the  project,  and  one  month 
later  (October  27)  a  meeting  was  held  which 
determined  on  choosing  delegates  to  a  conven- 
tion.    This  was  to  decide  whether   or   not  to 


1  Files  of  this  paper,  from  September,  1852,  to  December,  1853, 
the  entire  period  of  its  existence,  as  well  as  complete  files  of  the 
Pioneer  and  Democrat^  and  the  Puget  Sound  Herald,  were  con- 
sulted in  the  private  library  of  Hon.  C.  B.  Bagley  of  Seattle. 
The  writer  also  obtained  from  Mr.  Bagley  the  loan  of  his  files  of 
the  Washington  Statesman,  Walla  Walla,  which  proved  invalu- 
able for  the  study  of  the  early  history  of  the  "Inland  Empire." 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  245 

ask  Congress  to  erect  the  district  north  and 
west  of  the  Columbia  into  a  territorial  govern- 
ment. Although  some  of  the  people  living 
along  the  river,  to  whom  Oregon  City  was 
more  convenient  than  Olympia,  objected  to  the 
plan,  the  proposed  meeting  was  held  on  the 
25th  of  November,  and  a  memorial  asking  for 
the  change  sent  to  General  Lane  who  then 
represented  the  territory  in  Congress.  On  the 
15th  of  January,  1853,  the  Oregon  legislature, 
sympathizing  with  the  demand  of  the  northern 
settlements,  adopted  a  similar  memorial ;  but 
before  this  reached  him  Lane  had  introduced  a 
bill  for  creating  the  territory  of  Columbia.  It 
passed  on  the  loth  of  February,  1853,  with  the 
name  Washington  substituted  for  Columbia,  a 
change  with  which  the  people  of  the  new  terri- 
tory were  very  well  satisfied.  General  Isaac  I. 
Stevens,  who  had  been  commissioned  to  survey 
a  northern  route  for  a  Pacific  railroad,  was 
appointed  governor.  He  arrived  at  Olympia 
on  the  26th  of  November,  1853,  and  the  new 
organization  was  put  in  operation.^ 

1  General  Stevens  was  a  trained  soldier  and  engineer,  a  gradu- 
ate of  West  Point.  His  success  in  finding  a  practicable  line 
for  a  railroad  immediately  gave  him  great  influence  with  the  peo- 
ple of  Washington,  who  believed  thoroughly  in  the  future  of 
their  section.  Reserved  as  governor  till  1857,  was  then  elected 
delegate  to  Congress  from  the  territory,  remaining  in  that  posi- 
tion till  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  when  he  went  to  the 
field  of  action.     He  was  killed  while  gallantly  leading  his  divi- 


246     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Beginnings  As  the  gold  discovcry  promoted  the  pros- 
tTnZT  Penty  of  the  Willamette  valley  and  Puget 
Oregon  Sound,  SO  it  also  led  to  the  planting  of  new 
communities  in  other  favorable  districts  of  the 
Northwest.  The  region  known  as  southern 
Oregon  contains  the  two  important  valleys  of 
the  Umpqua  and  Rogue  rivers.  It  had  al- 
ready become  known  to  the  pioneers,  partly 
through  explorations  for  a  southern  emigrant 
road  made  in  1846  under  the  direction  of  Jesse 
Applegate.  A  portion  of  the  emigration  of 
that  and  the  following  years  came  to  the  Wil- 
lamette over  this  route ;  and  when  Oregon  men 
began  going  to  the  gold  mines  of  California,  the 
country  became  still  better  known.  Wagons 
and  pack  trains,  men  on  foot  and  on  horse- 
back, were  continually  passing  back  and  forth ; 
so  that  it  was  not  long  before  a  few  individuals, 
impressed  with  the  beauty  of  the  landscape,  the 
excellence  of  the  grass  and  water,  and  the  op- 
portunities for  farming  and  stock  raising,  began 
to  think  of  locating  claims  in  these  valleys. 

Jesse  Applegate,  who  was'  the  most  noted 
explorer  of  southern  Oregon,  was  himself  led 
to  settle  in   Umpqua  valley.^     In   the   spring 

sion  at  Chantilly.  The  "  Life  of  Isaac  Ingalls  Stevens,"  by  Hazard 
Stevens,  2  vols.,  Boston,  1900,  gives  a  full  account. of  his  services 
and  much  valuable  matter  on  the  history  of  the  Northwest. 

^  He  founded  and  named  the  town  of  Yoncalhi,  which  became 
his  home.  General  Lane  also  took  a  claim  in  this  valley,  near 
the  town  of  Roseburg,  and  spent  his  declining  years  in  retirement. 


1 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  247 

of  1850,  he  with  a  number  of  others  organized 
a  company  to  take  up  lands  and  establish  town 
sites.  It  happened  that  while  these  pioneers 
were  making  their  way  down  toward  the  sea, 
they  met  a  party  of  Californians  who  had 
entered  the  Umpqua  by  ship  for  the  same 
purpose.  The  two  companies  thus  accident- 
ally brought  together  formed  a  new  association  X 
which  undertook  to  colonize  the  Umpqua 
valley.  Settlers  and  miners  quickly  overran 
the  region.  The  county  of  Umpqua,  embrac- 
ing the  whole  of  southern  Oregon,  was  created 
by  the  territorial  legislature  in  185 1. 

The  valley  of  Rogue  River  received  settlers  Rogue 
about  the  same  time,  and  here  the  influence  anTthe 
of  gold  discoveries  was  strongly  felt.  California  southern 
miners  had  already  prospected  the  Sierras  to 
the  borders  of  the  Oregon  country;  and  just 
at  the  close  of  the  year  185 1  rich  placer  mines 
were  discovered  on  Jackson  Creek,  a  branch  of 
Rogue  River.  A  new  rush  began,  Californians 
and  Oregonians  both  taking  part  in  it,  so  that 
in  a  very  short  time  the  village  of  Jacksonville 
had  a  population  of  several  hundred,  and  a 
number  of  other  mining  centers  were  estab- 
lished in  the  same  neighborhood.  Settlers 
pushed  in  at  the  same  time  to  take  up  the 
fertile  lands  along  the  Rogue  River  and  its 
branches.  While  these  things  were  going  for- 
ward   in  the  upper  portions  of   the  valleys  of 


248     A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

southern  Oregon,  settlements  were  also  begun 
near  the  mouths  of  the  rivers,  especially  at  Port 
.  Orford  and  about  Coos  Bay.  The  discovery  of 
y  coal  near  Coos  Bay  gave  it  a  large  trade  with 
/  San  Francisco.  The  various  centers  of  popula- 
tion were  connected  with  one  another  by  means 
of  mountain  roads  or  trails ;  the  interest  in  gold 
mining  stimulated  emigration,  and  a  population 
of  several  thousand  people  was  soon  to  be  found 
within  this  territory,  which  at  the  beginning  of 
the  California  gold  rush  was  an  absolute  wilder- 
ness, occupied  by  native  barbarians. 
Indian  out-  Whcu  the  caHy  missionaries  and  settlers 
theVogue  camc  to  Orcgou  they  found  the  Indians  under 
River  War  the  coutrol  of  the  Hudsou's  Bay  Fur  Company, 
whose  officers  were  able  to  secure  for  the  whites 
such  lands  and  other  privileges  as  the  Indians 
had  to  bestow.  The  company  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  preventing  conflicts  between  the  two 
races.  Only  rarely  were  the  settlers  molested 
by  the  natives  during  these  years,  the  most 
notable  exception  being  the  Whitman  massacre 
in  1847.  When  the  United  States  took  con- 
trol, in  1849,  the  situation  had  become  more 
difficult  to  handle.  Settlers  were  by  this  time 
becoming  numerous ;  the  Indians  had  begun  to 
fear  for  the  safety  of  their  lands,  and  they  were 
not  yet  convinced  of  the  national  government's 
power.  Soon  afterward  troubles  began,  es- 
pecially  in    the    newly    occupied    territory    of 


I 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  249 


southern  Oregon,  where  miners  and  travelers 
were  occasionally  murdered,  and  settlers  driven 
from  their  lands.  In  some  cases,  it  must  be 
confessed,  the  whites  were  to  blame  as  well  as 
the  red  men.  But  the  time  soon  came  when  the 
tribes  of  southern  Oregon  were  ready  to  go  on 
the  war  path,  and  then  hundreds  of  innocent 
persons  suffered  the  untold  horrors  which  have 
always  marked  such  savage  outbreaks.  Men 
were  shot  down  on  the  highway  or  in  the  field ; 
at  dead  of  night  unprotected  families  were  be- 
sieged in  their  cabins,  the  men  killed  outright, 
the  women  and  children  enslaved,  and  homes 
burned  to  the  ground ;  sometimes  whole  settle- 
ments were  either  massacred  or  driven  away.  \ 
This  war,  usually  called,  from  the  most  terrible 
of  the  tribes  concerned  in  it,  the  Rogue  River 
War,  began  in  185 1.  It  lasted,  with  some  in- 
termissions, till  1856,  when  the  Indians  being 
removed  to  reservations  the  settlers  were  at 
last  secure  in  the  possession  of  their  homes.^ 

Southern  Oregon  was  not  the  only  section  other 
of  the  Northwest  to  suffer  from  the  uprising  ^^^ianwars 
of  the  natives  during  this  period.     On  Puget 
Sound,  too,  the  Indians  began  to  murder  white 
men  as  early  as  1850,  though  no  general  out- 
break  occurred   until   several  years  later.     In 

1  In  this  war  General  Lane  performed  most  important  services 
for  Oregon,  both  as  warrior  and  peacemaker.  The  Indians  stood 
in  great  awe  of  him. 


250     A   HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

1 854-1 855  General  Stevens,  as  superintendent 
of  Indian  affairs,  made  treaties  with  nearly  all 
of  the  tribes  both  in  eastern  and  western 
Washington,  and  it  was  supposed  that  these 
would  put  an  end  to  all  conflict  between  the 
two  races.  But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  natives, 
seeing  the  country  filling  up  with  white  people, 
were  about  ready  for  a  general  war  in  defense 
of  what  they  considered  to  be  their  own  coun- 
try. The  situation  here  was  not  different  from 
that  which  brought  on  the  great  Indian  wars 
in  other  sections  of  the  United  States.  Just 
as  New  England  had  its  King  Philip's  War, 
and  the  middle  West  its  struggles  with  Tecum- 
seh  and  Black  Hawk,  so  the  people  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest,  when  settlement  threatened  to  crowd 
the  Indians  off  their  lands,  were  forced  to  meet 
great  combinations  of  native  tribes  under  Chief 
John,  Leschi,  Kamiakin,  and  others.  Except 
in  southern  Oregon,  these  wars  came  mainly 
in  the  years  185 5- 1858.  They  included  many 
harrowing  incidents,  like  the  murder  of  the 
settlers  in  White  River  valley  near  Puget 
Sound,  the  daring  attack  upon  the  little  village 
of  Seattle  in  the  spring  of  1856,  the  slaughter 
of  the  emigrants  on  the  Malheur  River,  and 
massacres  at  the  Cascades.  The  United  States 
government  maintained  troops  at  various  places 
throughout  the  Northwest,  and  in  some  cases 
these  rendered    most  eff(;ctive  service  during 


^he 


PROGRESS   AND   POLITICS  25 1 


the  Indian  war;  but  their  numbers  were  too 
small  to  meet  the  great  emergency,  while  diffi- 
culties arose  between  the  territorial  officers 
and  the  military  commanders  that  caused  the 
burden  of  the  war  to  fall  mainly  upon  the 
people  themselves.  Volunteer  companies  were 
called  into  the  field,  who  with  some  severe 
fighting  and  much  attendant  hardship  were 
able  to  bring  this  distressing  period  to  a 
close.  The  Indians  here  as  elsewhere  found 
it  necessary  to  accept  the  bounty  of  Congress 
in  the  shape  of  a  reservation,  with  pay  for  the 
lands  which  they  gave  up  to  the  government. 
Most  of  the  treaties  went  into  effect  in  1859. 

Several  years  prior  to  the  close  of  the  Indian  The  Oregon 
wars,  the  question  of  statehood  for  OreQ:on  be-  ^°"^^f^" 

^      ^  ^  t5  ^        tional  con- 

gan  to  be  seriously  discussed,  and  in  1856  a  bill  vention, 
for  admitting  the  territory  into  the  Union  was  gg^^j-e^ber 
introduced    in    Congress    by    General    Lane.  1857 
Though   this   failed,   another   bill    passed    the 
House   at    the    next   session,    authorizing   the     V^ 
people  to   frame  a  state  constitution.     It   did 
not  pass  the  Senate,  but  the  legislature  of  Ore- 
gon Territory  had  already  provided  for  submit- 
ting the  question  of   holding  a  convention  to 
the  voters  at  the  June  (1857)  election.     It  was 
carried   by   a   large    majority,    delegates    were 
chosen  from  the  several  counties,  and  on  the 
third   Monday  in  August  the  convention  met 
in  the  town  of  Salem.     September  18  a  state 


252      A   HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

constitution  was  adopted,  which  being  submitted 
to  the  people  was  ratified  by  a  vote  of  7195  in 
favor  to  3195  against.  The  state  government 
went  into  operation  in  July,  1858,  although  Ore- 
gon was  not  formally  admitted  to  the  Union  till 
the  14th  of  February,  1859/ 

^  The  population  of  Oregon  in  i860  was  52,465,  and  of  Wash- 
ington Territory,  11,594. 


General  Isaac  Ingalls  Stevens. 


c 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE    INLAN»    EMPIRE 

The  Indian  wars  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  Extent  and 
like  those  of  New  England,  western  New  York,  ^^r^^nd^ 
and  various  sections  of  the  Mississippi  valley,  Empire 
were  followed  by  a  period  in  which  population 
spread  rapidly  over  previously  unoccupied  terri- 
tory. Thus  far  settlement  had  been  practically 
confined  to  the  region  between  the  Cascade 
Mountains  and  the  Pacific,  including  the  Willa- 
mette valley,  Puget  Sound,  the  Cowlitz  and 
Columbia  districts,  the  valleys  of  southern 
Oregon,  and  a  few  points  near  the  seacoast. 
This  was  only  a  small  part  of  the  Oregon  coun- 
try, the  eastern  section,  from  the  Cascades  to 
the  Rockies,  containing  more  than  three  times 
as  large  an  area.  Above  the  point  where  the 
Columbia  breaks  through  the  Cascades,  one 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  from  the  sea,  it  re- 
ceives branches  from  the  north  whose  sources 
lie  far  beyond  the  American  boundary  of  49°, 
others  from  the  south  rising  below  the  42d  par- 
allel, and  still  others  from  every  part  of  the  west 
slope  of  the  Rockies  between  these  two  bound- 
ary lines.     They  drain  an  American  territory 

253 


2S4    A  HISTORY  OF  THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Its  agri- 
cultural 
possibilities 
begin  to  be 
understood 


embracing  about  two  hundred  thousand  square 
miles,  nearly  one  fourth  larger  than  the  com- 
bined areas  of  the  New  England  states,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania.  A  por- 
tion of  it  is  occupied  by  the  forested  ranges  of 
the  Bitter  Root  and  Blue  mountains ;  but  in 
general  it  is  a  region  of  great  plains,  relieved  by 
wooded  valleys  and  gently  sloping  hills.  The 
climate,  soil,  and  productions,  all  vary  greatly 
from  those  of  western  Oregon,  and  the  natives 
were  superior  to  the  western  Indians  in  intellect 
as  well  as  in  strength,  energy,  and  warlike  valor. 
Owing  to  the  light  rainfall  over  the  greater 
portion  of  the  Inland  Empire,  some  early  travel- 
ers pronounced  the  entire  region  unfit  to  be 
the  home  of  civilized  man.  But  the  mission- 
aries proved  that  the  natural  grasses  afforded 
excellent  pasturage  for  cattle  and  sheep,^  and 
that  the  soil  in  many  places  would  produce 
bounteous  crops  of  grain  and  vegetables  even 
without  irrigation ;  while  with  an  artificial 
supply  of  water  surprising  results  could  be 
obtained.  Several  of  the  valleys,  like  Walla 
Walla  and  the  Grand  Ronde,  which  lay  in  the 
path  of  the  emigrants  to  Oregon,  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  pioneers  at  an  early  time  by 


1  Dr.  Whitman  wrote  in  October,  1847,  just  before  his  death  : 
"The  interior  of  Oregon  is  unrivaled  by  any  country  for  the 
grazing  of  stock,  of  which  sheep  is  the  best.  This  interior  will 
now  be  sought  after." 


THE  INLAND   EMPIRE  255 

the  evident  fertility  of  their  lands ;  and  as  early 
as  1847  it  seemed  certain  that  the  first  of  these 
would  soon  be  occupied  by  farmers.  But  the 
Whitman  massacre  of  that  year  destroyed  these 
prospects,  and  another  decade  was  to  pass  away 
before  plans  of  settlement  could  be  resumed. 
In  the  meantime  other  sections  of  the  Inland 
Empire  were  beginning  to  receive  attention  on 
account  of  the  rich  farming  lands  they  were 
supposed  to  contain. 

When  General  Stevens  reached  Olympia,  in  General 
November,  1853,  after  completing  the  survey  of  0^3^^^-^ 
the  northern  railroad  route,  he  declared  to  the  tions 
people  of  Puget  Sound  that  there  were  several 
great  stretches  of  territory  in  eastern  Washing- 
ton which  invited  settlement.  "  I  can  speak 
advisedly,"  he  says,  "  of  the  beautiful  St.  Mary's 
valley  just  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
stretching  across  the  whole  breadth  of  the  terri- 
tory; of  the  plain  fifty  miles  wide  bordering 
the  south  bank  of  the  Spokane  River;  of  the 
valley  extending  from  Spokane  River  to  Col- 
ville ;  of  the  Coeur  d' Alene-^  Prairie  of  six  hun- 
dred square  miles;  the  Walla  Walla  valley. 
The  Nez  Perce  country  is  said  to  be  rich  as 
well  as  the  country  bordering  on  the  Yakima 
River." 

His  treaties  with  the  native  tribes  soon  after-  The  Indian 
ward  were  expected  to  throw  some  of  these  ^e^ntrsettie- 
tracts  open,  and  other  treaties  made  about  the  ment 


256    A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

same  time  with  the  Indians  of  eastern  Oregon 
looked  to  the  settlement  of  portions  of  that 
country.  But  when  the  Indians  went  on  the 
war  path  in  1855  this  entire  region,  except  a 
small  district  protected  by  the  military  post  at 
the  Dalles,  was  once  more  closed  to  the  peace- 
ful tiller  of  the  soil.  The  prairies  and  open 
river  valleys,  instead  of  being  dotted  over  with 
settlers'  cabins  or  the  white-sheeted  wagons  of 


CCEUR  D'ALENE,    1853. 


emigrants,  were  traversed  in  all  directions  by 
long  files  of  marching  men,  and  troops  of  gal- 
lant cavalry.  Yet  this  only  served  to  make  the 
whole  country  more  familiar  to  the  people  of 
western  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  to  in- 
crease the  desire  to  settle  there  as  soon  as  the 
Indian  troubles  should  be  over. 


THE    INLAND  EMPIRE  257 

By  this  time  (1859)  there  was  an  additional  Gold  hunt- 
motive  for  emigration  to  the  Inland  Empire,  ^^e  Cascades 
Even  before  the  Indian  war  there  had  been 
more  or  less  prospecting  for  gold  in  the  eastern 
country,  and  in  1855  discoveries  were  made  at 
Colville,  though  at  that  time  little  could  be  done 
with  them.  In  the  years  185 7-1 858  occurred 
a  rush  to  Eraser  River  in  British  Columbia. 
Eor  a  time  it  was  supposed  this  region  would 
prove  very  rich ;  but  soon  disappointments 
crowded  upon  the  Americans  who  had  gone 
there,  and  a  great  outpouring  took  place.  The 
men  who  left  these  mines  spread  over  and 
prospected  large  sections  of  the  eastern  country, 
with  results  only  less  wonderful  than  those  ob- 
tained in  California  ten  years  earlier.  Rich 
gold  districts  were  opened  near  Colville  ;  on  the 
Clearwater,  Salmon  River,  Boise  River,  John 
Day's  River,  Burnt  River,  Powder  River;  the 
Owyhee,  Kootenai,  Deer  Lodge,  Beaverhead; 
the  Prickly  Pear,  and  other  places.  Californians 
streamed  northward  as  Oregonians  had  gone 
south  in  '48  and  '49.  Mining  camps  grew  in 
a  few  months  to  towns  of  several  thousand 
people,  and  sometimes  disappeared  quite  as 
rapidly,  when  richer  diggings  were  opened 
elsewhere,  or  water  for  gold  washing  failed. 
By  rapid  stages  the  prospectors  passed  up  the 
several  branches  of  the  Columbia,  until  they 
stood   once   more    upon    the   summit    of    the 


258    A  HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Carrying 
supplies  to 
the  mining 
camps 


Rockies,  this  time  coming  from  the  west.  At 
South  Pass,  Helena,  and  many  other  camps, 
they  met  and  mingled  with  the  crowds  of  gold 
seekers  arriving  from  the  East.  These  were 
"  tenderfeet  "  to  the  rugged  men  who  had  spent 
twelve  or  fifteen  years  in  the  mining  districts 
of  California,  British  Columbia,  eastern  Ore- 
gon, Washington,  and  Idaho,  and  who  rather 
gloried  in  the  name  "  yonder  siders,"  applied  to 
them  by  the  other  class. 

When  the  miners  turned  toward  the  north- 
east the  pack  trains  headed  in  the  same  direc- 


Pack  Train  on  Mountain  Traii.. 

tion,  carrying  the  eager  gold  seekers  with  their 
outfits,  and  following  from  camp  to  camp  with 
regular  supplies  of  bacon  and  flour,  picks, 
shovels,  pans,  quicksilver,  and  other  neces- 
sities of  the  business.     From  ten  to  fifty  horses 


f^p 


THE   INLAND   EMPIRE  259 


or  mules  usually  made  up  the  train,  though 
sometimes  more  than  one  hundred  animals  were 
employed.  They  were  loaded  with  packs  vary- 
ing from  two  hundred  to  four  hundred  pounds. 
At  first  many  of  these  trains  set  out  from  the 
Willamette  valley  directly,  crossing  the  Cascade 
Mountains ;  but  in  a  very  short  time  (as  early 
as  1862)  the  Oregon  Steam  Navigation  Com- 
pany, with  headquarters  at  Portland,  made  ar- 
rangements for  carrying  goods  up  the  river 
as  far  as  old  Fort  Walla  Walla,  then  as  now 
called  Wallula.  Intermediate  points  w^ere  The 
Dalles  and  Umatilla  Landing. 

At  Walla  Walla,  located  a  few  miles  above  WaiiaWaiia 
the  site  of  the  Whitman  mission,  a  military  Ll*^.^^^^^" 
post  had  been  established  in  1856,  which  soon  center 
drew  about  it  a  small  settlement.  This  place 
now  became  the  distributing  center  for  a  min- 
ing region  embracing  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
eastern  country.  The  Dalles  sent  goods  up 
the  John  Day  valley ;  Umtilla  carried  to  Pow- 
der River,  Owyhee,  Boise  Basin,  and  a  few 
other  places  in  eastern  Oregon  and  southern 
Idaho;  but  Walla  Walla  sent  its  pack  trains 
not  only  to  most  of  these  camps,  but  to  Col- 
ville,  Kootenai,  the  Salmon  and  the  Clearwater, 
the  Prickly  Pear  and  the  upper  Missouri.  The 
trails  radiated  in  all  directions  from  this  little 
town,  and  during  the  packing  season  long  lines 
of  horses  and    mules  were   ever   coming   and 


26o    A  HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


The 

Montana 
trade  by 
steamboat 
and  wagon 


going.  In  winter  the  feeding  yards  of  the 
valley  were  filled  with  poor,  worn  creatures, 
w^hose  scarred  backs  and  ugly  girth  marks 
proved  the  class  to  which  they  belonged/  The 
packers  themselves  were  an  important  social 
element  in  Walla  Walla  and  Wallula,  sometimes 
giving  grand  balls  which  the  entire  community 
would  attend.  Many  of  them  were  enterpris- 
ing young  men  who  have  since  made  themselves 
felt  in  business  and  professional  life. 

The  Columbia  River,  though  affording  with 
its  branches  over  two  thousand  miles  of  navi- 
gable water,  is  divided  into  sections  by  frequent 
natural  obstructions  like  the  Cascades,  Dalles, 
Great  Falls,  and  Priest's  Rapids.  As  the  in- 
terior trade  grew,  the  navigation  company 
built  boats  on  section  after  section,  until  it 
became  possible  to  go  from  Portland  to  Lake 
Pend  d'Oreille  on  the  North  Fork  almost  wholly 
by  water.  This  development  resulted  in  part 
from  the  opening  of  trade  with  the  Rocky 
Mountain  country.  Active  mining  operations 
began  in  what  is  now  Montana,  but  then 
eastern  Washington  and  western  Dakota,  in 
1862.     The  earliest  diggings  were  located  west 

^  The  number  of  pack  animals  maintained  in  the  valley  is 
almost  incredible.  In  the  winter  of  1866-1867  between  five  hun- 
dred and  six  hundred  were  kept  within  seven  miles  of  Wallula. 
During  ten  days  in  the  month  of  July,  1869,  when  times  were 
dull,  trains  aggregating  five  hundred  and  fifty-nine  packs  were 
fitted  out  at  Walla  Walla. 


THE  INLAND   EMPIRE 


261 


)f  the  Rockies,  but  soon  rich  discoveries  were 
lade   east   of   the   mountains   also.      Packers 

Erom  Walla  Walla  crossed  over  at  once,  carry- 
[ing  hundreds  of  tons  of  supplies  at  very  great 

jxpense.     A  military  road,  from  Fort  Benton 

in  the  upper  Missouri  to  Walla  Walla,  had  been 
Constructed  between  the  years  1859  and  1862, 
Junder  the  direction  of  Captain  John  Mullan. 
It  was  always  passable  for  pack  trains,  but  soon 


.'         S;  £ 

mk   \ 

mt^-^^m^ 

^ 

r~^-      ^^' 

—A 

-:_--■          ■         %,  J^-^'"^ 

Fort  Benton,  1853. 

fell  into  such  a  state  of  disrepair  that  loaded 
wagons  could  not  safely  pass  over  it.  Soon 
the  demand  became  loud  for  the  reopening 
of  this  highway.  Work  was  done  upon  it  at 
various  times,  with  the  result  that  many  wagons, 
drawn  by  six  or  eight  pairs  of  mules,  carried 
flour  and  bacon,  produced  in   the   Willamette 


262    A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

valley,  from    the    head   of    navigation    on    the 
Columbia  to   Helena  on  the    Missouri,  a   dis- 
tance of  only  about  six  hundred  miles. 
Competition        Pacific    coast   Commodities    now   came   into 
EasTTiTd       competition  with  those  brought  from  St.  Louis 
West;  rapid  in  many  little  steamboats;  and  thus  the  predic- 
PoTilnd       tions  of  Mr.  Floyd  were  in  away  fulfilled:  a 
commercial  route  had  been  opened  across  the 
continent  by  steamboat  and  wagon.     The  city 
of  Portland,  as  the  western  emporium  of  this 
trade  with  the  Inland   Empire   and   Montana, 
entered  upon  a  period  of  rapid  and  substantial 
growth,  which  has  continued  almost  unbroken 
to  the  present  time. 
Agriculture         From  the  beginning  of  this  migration  toward 
^"  ^^!^  ^^^'^  the  interior,  the  most  favorable  portions  of  the 

Walla  ^ 

valley  couutry  wcrc  eagerly  sought  after  by  those  wish- 

ing to  engage  in  agriculture  or  stock  raising. 
The  rapid  progress  of  mining  stimulated  this 
movement,  so  that  in  spite  of  the  long  delay 
in  beginning  the  settlement  of  the  Inland  Em- 
pire, a  farming  population  finally  spread  over 
its  fertile  valleys  and  plains  much  more  rapidly 
than  would  have  been  the  case  if  no  gold  rush 
had  occurred.  The  first  district  to  be  occupied 
was  the  Walla  Walla  valley,  where  the  presence 
of  the  United  States  military  post  afforded  a 
home  market  for  products,  and  where  the  lands 
were  not  only  fertile  but  easily  tilled,  compara- 
tively well  watered,  and  conveniently  near  to 


263 


THE   INLAND  EMPIRE  265 

the  Columbia  River  and  the  lower  settlements. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  this  valley  was  about 
to  be  occupied  in  1847,  when  the  Whitman  mas- 
sacre suddenly  drove  all  whites  west  of  the  Cas- 
cades. A  few  pioneers  held  claims  there  at  the 
outbreak  of  the  later  Indian  war,  and  these  had 
to  be  abandoned  also.  When  the  treaties  were 
completed  in  1859,  many  persons  were  ready  to 
take  up  lands  in  the  country,  while  the  emi- 
gration of  that  year  furnished  several  hundred 
settlers.^  In  1 860  Walla  Walla  County  had  1 300 
white  people,  and  within  the  next  six  years  the 
government  surveyed  about  750,000  acres  of 
land  in  the  valley,  most  of  which  was  imme- 
diately taken  up  for  agricultural  purposes.  The 
chief  crop  was  wheat,  which  yielded  at  the  rate 
of  forty  to  fifty  bushels,  and  was  turned  into 
flour  for  export  to  the  numerous  mining  camps 
supplied  from  this  center.  In  1865  the  amount 
thus  sent  out  was  7000  barrels.  At  the  same 
time  other  products,  like  hay,  onions,  potatoes, 
and  wool,  were  shipped  down  the  river.  In 
1870  Walla  Walla  County  had  5174  inhabit-  ! 
ants.  By  that  time  the  valley  was  fairly  well 
settled,  containing  many  beautiful  farms,  with 
comfortable  and  even  handsome  dwellings,  sur- 

1  The  Olympia  Pioneer  and  Democrat  of  September  30,  1859, 
says  that  eight  hundred  emigrants  had  settled  in  the  Walla  Walla 
valley,  while  twenty  families  had  taken  claims  on  the  Yakima,  atid 
thirty  on  the  Klickitat  and  through  the  country  from  the  Dalles 
to  Fort  Simcoe  (on  the  Yakima). 


?66 


A    HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


Settlement 
of  the 
Grand 
Ronde 
valley 


rounded  by  gardens,  fruit  orchards,  and  orna- 
mental trees. 

For  many  years  the  emigrants  to  Oregon  had 
passed  with  regret  the  beautiful  valley  of  the 
Grand  Ronde,  nestled  so  peacefully  among 
the  Blue  Mountains.  After  all  danger  from 
the  natives  had  been  removed,  and  the  Walla 
Walla  country  partly  filled  up,  settlers  began 
to  take  claims  in  this  attractive  region,  notwith- 
standing its  distance  from  the  sea.  A  few  were 
left  there  by  the  emigration  of  1861,  but  it  was 
the  great  company  of  1862  which  finally  occu- 
pied the  country.  About  two  thousand,  so  the 
newspapers  of  the  time  declare,  remained  in 
the  valley,  while  the  rest,  some  eight  thousand, 
went  down  the  Columbia.  The  first  winter 
was  one  of  great  privations ;  but  the  next  sum- 
mer a  crop  was  raised  on  the  newly  broken 
lands,  which  furnished  an  abundance  of  provi- 
sions. La  Grande  was  the  principal  town,  and 
soon  became  the  county  seat  of  Union  County, 
which  included  the  Grand  Ronde  within  its 
boundaries.  From  the  first  it  was  a  place  of 
considerable  importance,  being  the  supply  cen- 
ter for  the  valley  until  other  towns,  like  Union, 
-Summerville,  and  Oro  Dell,  divided  the  territory 
with  her.  A  wagon  road  built  in  1863  con- 
nected the  Grand  Ronde  valley  with  Walla 
Walla  for  trading  purposes,  while  other  roads 
and  trails  made  it  possible  for  this  upper  settle- 


THE   INLAND  EMPIRE  269 

ment  to  send  its  products  to  the  mines  of  Boise 
valley,  Owyhee,  and  other  places.  The  abun- 
[d-ance  of  timber  on  the  slopes  of  the  Blue  Moun- 
tains, and  the  fine  water  power  of  the  mountain 
(Streams,  promoted  the  building  of  sawmills,  of 
^which  there  were  four  in  1864.  A  description 
of  the  valley,  written  in  the  spring  of  1868,  in- 
dicates that  excellent  progress  had  been  made 
in  the  first  five  years  after  settlement  began. 
"  The  waste  prairie  has  changed  to  fenced  and 
cultivated  farms,  and  in  all  directions  the  handi-  V 
work  of  intelligence  and  industry  is  visible. 
Comfortable  houses  and  outhouses  have  been 
built,  orchards  planted ;  from  the  poor  emigrant 
has  sprung  the  well-to-do  farmer."  County  roads 
crossed  the  valley  in  all  directions,  while  two 
good  toll  roads  had  been  built  through  it.  The 
population  of  Union  County  in  1870  was  2552. 

These  two  illustrations  of  the  Walla  Walla  other  agd- 
and    Grand    Ronde    valleys    are    sufficient    to  ^^J^^^'^^^ 

-^  settlements 

show  how  population  spread  over  the  fine  farm- 
ing districts  of  the  Inland  Empire  during  the 
years  immediately  following  the  gold  rush  to 
this  region.  Many  other  districts  had  a  simi- 
lar history.  Boise  valley.  Powder  River,  the 
Clearwater  and  Spokane,  the  high  valleys  of 
western  Montana,  —  all  had  their  farming  com- 
munities, producing  such  supplies  as  the  min- 
ing districts  could  use.  The  Yakima  valley 
east  of  the  Columbia  was  situated  much  like 


270    A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  Walla  Walla,  and  was  settled  about  the 
same  time.  By  1870  the  amount  of  produce 
seeking  a  market  from  the  upper  Columbia  was 
already  larger  than  the  demand  to  be  supplied 
in  that  country,  although  only  a  small  fraction 
of  the  tillable  lands  had  as  yet  been  taken  up. 
The  people  needed  better  means  of  transporta- 
tion, in  order  that  they  might  ship  their  wheat 
and  flour  down  the  river  to  a  larger  and  more 
stable  market.  The  entire  inland  country 
waited  impatiently  for  railroads  to  connect  its 
scattered  communities,  and  to  afford  the  much- 
desired  outlet  to  the  sea.^ 

^  A  short  line  of  railroad,  from  Walla  Walla  to  Wallula,  was 
first  projected  as  early  as  1862;  but  it  was  not  until  1868  that 
active  work  was  begun  upon  it.  The  road  was  completed  in 
1874,  largely  through  the  energy  and  financial  enterprise  of 
Dr.  D.  S.  Baker.  It  was  the  first  railroad  in  the  territory  of 
Washington. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE    AGE    OF    RAILWAYS 

The  Inland  Empire  was    not   alone   in  de-  TheNorth- 
mandino:  railroad  facilities  at  this  time.     The  T^^'    , 

^     ,  demands 

entire  Pacific  Northwest  was  as  yet  altogether  railways 
lacking  in  this  important  means  of  develop- 
ment, and  by  1870  the  people  of  that  section 
were  everywhere  insisting  that  railways  be  built. 
Many  years  earlier,  when  the  Oregon  question 
was  still  unsettled,  and  when  emigration  to  the 
Columbia  by  means  of  wagons  and  ox  teams 
had  but  just  begun,  several  schemes  were 
brought  forward  for  the  establishment  of  a 
transcontinental  line  to  extend  to  some  point 
on  the  lower  Columbia,  or  to  Puget  Sound. 
One  such  project  was  presented  to  the  public 
in  1 845- 1 846  by  Asa  Whitney.  He  proposed 
to  build  the  road  on  condition  that  the  United 
States  government  grant  to  his  company  a  belt 
of  land  sixty  miles  wide,  stretching  from  Lake  i"^ 
Michigan  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Another 
scheme  was  to  make  the  road  a  national  one, 
the  funds  for  construction  to  come  from  the 
sale  of  lands  along  the  line.  This  was  advo- 
cated  by  Mr.  George  Wilkes,  of    New  York, 

271 


2/2 


A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC    NORTHWEST 


Pacific 
railway 
surveys, 
1853-1857 


The  first 

Pacific 

railway 

completed, 

1869 


who  in  1845  wrote  a  book  on  the  subject, 
petitioned  Congress,  and  asked  the  support  of 
state  and  territorial  legislatures  in  favor  of  his 
project. 

A  few  years  later  the  rush  to  California  gave 
rise  to  plans  for  a  road  to  San  P>ancisco  Bay. 
Thomas  H.  Benton  was  one  of  the  earliest 
advocates  of  this  line.  In  1853  surveys  were 
begun  by  the  national  government  along  three 
different  routes  —  one  to  cross  the  Rockies  by 
way  of  South  Pass,  one  at  a  point  south  of  that 
place,  and  another  far  to  the  north,  near  the 
head  waters  of  the  Missouri.  When  General 
Stevens  surveyed  the  last-named  route,  he  pro- 
nounced it  by  far  the  most  feasible  of  all,  and 
the  people  of  the  Northwest  began  to  think 
that  the  first  transcontinental  railway  might 
be  built  through  their  section,  notwithstand- 
ing California's  greater  wealth  and  population. 
But  the  times  were  unfavorable  for  railroad] 
building,  because  of  the  great  struggle  be-j 
tween  the  North  and  South  over  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery,  which  occupied  the  attention 
of  the  whole  country  and  finally  led  to  the 
Civil  War. 

While  this  conflict  was  raging,  however,  the 
government  made  provision  (1862)  for  the  first 
of  the  transcontinental  railways  by  chartering 
the  Union  Pacific  Company  to  build  westward 
from  the   Missouri,  and  the  Central  Pacific  to 


THE   AGE   OF    RAILWAYS  273 

aiild  from  the  Pacific  coast  eastward.  The 
rapid  development  of  California  between  the 
years  1849  and  i860  made  San  Francisco  the 
natural  terminus  rather  than  either  of  the  north- 
ern ports  so  much  discussed  twenty  years 
earlier.^  The  central  route  was  chosen  because 
this  was  the  most  direct  line  to  northern  Cali- 
fornia. The  road  was  to  cross  the  Rockies  at 
South  Pass,  follow  the  Humboldt  River,  and  ^ 
enter  the  Sacramento  valley  by  the  old  Cali- 
fornia Trail.  The  work  of  construction  was 
soon  begun  at  both  ends,  and  pushed  forward 
as  rapidly  as  possible.  Great  numbers  of  Chi- 
nese laborers,  who  had  begun  to  come  to  Cali- 
fornia shortly  after  the  gold  discovery,  were 
employed  on  the  western  division.  Finally,  on 
the  loth  of  May,  186^,  the  two  sections  were 
brought  together  at  Promontory  Point,  fifty 
miles  west  of  Ogden,  Utah,  where  the  cere- 
mony of  driving  the  golden  spike  completed 
the  gigantic  undertaking. 

This  event  marks  an  era  in   the  history  of  iheraii- 
the  Pacific  coast.     That  vast  region,  once  so  IZ'^^I^'^ 
widely  separated    from    the    remainder   of    the 
country,  was  now  brought  into  close  touch  with 
the  other  sections,  and  began  to  share  fully  in 

^  Sacramento,  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Sacramento 
River,  was  called  the  terminus  of  this  road;  but  the  line  was  at 
once  extended  to  San  Francisco,  which  became  the  terminus  in 

lact. 


274     A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

the  life  of  the  nation  as  a  whole.     The  journey 
from  the  east  coast  to  San   Francisco  by  way 
of  Panama  had  required  three  and  a  half  weeks ; 
it  was  very  expensive  and  extremely  unpleasant. 
By  the  overland  stage  the  trip  was  still  more 
costly  and  difficult.     But  at  last,  with  the  com- 
~">vpletion  of  the   railroad,  the   Mississippi  valley 
/    had  been  brought  within  a  week's  journey  of 
the  Pacific ;  travel  to  the  far  West  was  cheap 
and  pleasant ;  mails  became  frequent  and  regu- 
lar ;  many  varieties  of  western  products  began 
to  be  sent  east  in  exchange  for  manufacture 
goods.     Above  all,  a  new  movement  of  emigra- 
tion set  in  to  the  Pacific  coast  which  resulted 
in  planting  many  of  the  most  delightful  farming 
and  fruit-raising  sections  of  California,  and,  as 
we  shall  see,  brought  about  important  change 
in  the  Northwest  as  well. 
The  North-        Yet,  in  spitc  of  the  indirect  benefits  whic 
"^^'^'^1^^  ^    it  brouaht  to  the  people  of  the  Northwest,  th 

unprovided  . 

with  rail-       Central    Railway  was  not  at  all  sufficient   fo 
^*^^  their   needs.      It   barely  touched   the  Orego 

territory  at  the  southeast  corner,  without  acta 
ally  reaching  any  part  of  the  settled  area.  I 
order  to  make  it  of  great  use  to  this  section 
other  roads  would  have  to  be  built  through  th 
Northwest  connecting  with  the  Central.  Th 
routes  for  such  branch  lines  were  clearl 
marked  out  by  nature.  One  was  the  old  emi 
grant  road  from  the  Columbia  to   Fort   Hall 


P 

i 


THE   AGE   OF   RAILWAYS  2/5 

along  which  Wilkes  had  proposed  to  carry  his 
national  railroad  in  1845;  the  other  was  the 
wagon  route  which  had  been  opened  from  the 
Columbia  by  way  of  the  Willamette,  southern 
Oregon,  and  the  Siskiyou  Mountains  to  the 
Sacramento  valley. 

Several   years    before    the   Central    Railway  The  Oregon 
was  completed,  California  parties  began  survey-  fo^ia ^rail- 
ing  this  line  to  the   Columbia ;  and  although  way,  1868- 
nothing  came  of  it  at  the  time,  other  schemes  ^    ^ 
and  surveys  were  set  on  foot  which  finally  led 
to  railroad  construction  in  Oregon.     In  April, 
1868,  ground  was  broken  at  Portland  for  two\^ 
roads,  one  to  run  on  the  east  side,  the  other 
on    the  west   side,    of   the    Willamette    River. 
Five    years    later     the    East     Side    Railroad 
was  completed   to   Roseburg,  in  the    Umpqua 
valley,    thus    bringing    the    southern    Oregon 
country  into   connection   with  the  Willamette 
and  the  Columbia.     From  this  point  the  pro- 
cess of  construction  was  very  slow,  the  south- 
ern portion  being  finally  completed  in   1887  to 
connect  with  the  Central  Pacific. 

Meantime,  in   1874,  Mr.   Henry  Villard  be-  Henry 
came  interested  in  this  line  and  in  the  railroad  ^'^  nonhlm 
development  of  the  Pacific  Northwest  generally,  railways 
His  first  grand  enterprise  was  the  opening  of 
railway  transportation  along  the  Columbia,  on 
the  south  bank,  connecting  Portland  with  The 
Dalles,  the  Walla  Walla  country,  and  eastern 


2/6     A   HISTORY   OF   THE  PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

Oregon.  To  bring  this  about  he  organized, 
with  the  enterprising  Portland  men  who  con- 
trolled the  navigation  of  the  Columbia,  the 
Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation  Company. 
The  line  was  first  built  to  Baker  City,  in  the 


Henry  Villard. 


Powder  River  valley,  and  later  extended  to 
meet  the  Union  Pacific  at  Granger,  Wyoming, 
running  practically  along  the  old  emigrant  trail 
up  the  Lewis  River  valley.  Before  this  plan 
could  be  fully  carried  out,  Mr.  Villard  also 
secured  control  of  the  Northern  Pacific,  which 
had  been  in  process  of  building  from  Duluth 


I 


THE   AGE   OF   RAILWAYS 


^17 


at  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  for 
several  years.  The  union  of  all  these  interests 
under  his  management  gave  a  mighty  impulse 
to  railroad  development,  such  as  the  country 
had  never  before  seen.  Construction  was 
hurried  forward  at  utmost  speed  both  from  the 
east  and  from  the 
west,  and  on  the  8th 
of  September,  1883 
(in  western  Montana), 
the  last  spike  was 
driven  by  Mr.  Yillard^ 
in  the  presence  of  a 
throng  of  visitors 
from  both  coasts,  and 
from  nearly  every 
country  of  the  Old 
World.^  One  of  the 
orators  on  this  occa- 
sion was  Senator  J. 
W.  Nesmith,  of  Ore- 
gon, who  as  a  young 
man  had  crossed  the  plains  in  the  great  wagon 
train  of  1843.  The  early  settlers  of  the  North- 
west  had  spent  the  best   years  of   their   lives 

1  "  The  Memoirs  of  Henry  Villard,"  2  vols.,  Boston,  1904,  con- 
tains a  very  interesting  sketch  of  the  railroad  history  of  the 
Northwest  to  the  time  of  completing  the  Northern  Pacific.  The 
earliest  railways  in  Oregon  were  portage  roads  around  the  ob- 
structions in  the  Columbia  River  and  were  owned  by  the  Naviga- 
tion Company  at  the  time  Villard  took  control. 


James  Willis  Nesmith. 


road  build- 
ing 


278      A   HISTORY  OF  THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

under  pioneer  conditions ;  but  fortunately  many 
of  them  lived  to  see  the  dawning  of  the  new 
day  made  possible  by  their  labors  and  sacrifices. 
Later  rail-  Railroad    building   did    not   cease  with    the 

year  1883,  but  has  been  almost  continuous  from 
that  time  to  the  present.  The  main  line  of  the 
Northern  Pacific,  the  Columbia  and  Lewis 
River  roa^,  the  new  Great  Northern  line  to 
the  Sound,  the  connection  northward  with  the 
Canadian  Pacific  and  southward  with  the  Cen- 
tral Pacific,  form  the  outlines  of  a  system  which 
has  gradually  been  extended,  by  means  of 
branches,  into  many  new  productive  regions  of 
the  Northwest.  The  results,  while  marvelous 
in  themselves,  are  only  such  as  had  long  been 
foretold  by  those  familiar  with  the  resources  of 
the  Northwest,  and  with  the  effects  produced 
by  railroads  in  other  parts  of  the  United  States. 
This  becomes  plain  when  we  compare  the  slow 
progress  of  the  Northwest  during  the  early 
period  with  the  rapid  development  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  past  thirty-four  years,  and 
especially  in  the  past  twenty-one  years,  since 
the  completion  of  the  Northern  Pacific. 
Distribution  In  1870,  whcu  this  great  movement  was  just 
latfoTabout  beginning,  Oregon,  Washington,  and  Idaho  had 
1870  a  combined    population    of    130,000,  of  which 

\^  91,000  belonged  to  Oregon  and  only  24,000  to 
her  northern  neighbor.  Almost  exactly  one 
half  (64,200)  of  the  total  population  of  the  North- 


THE  AGE   OF  RAILWAYS  279 

west  was  still  living  in  the  Willamette  valley, 
which  even  without  railroads  always  had  an 
outlet  to  a  seaport  market.  The  other  half  was 
widely  distributed,  in  southern  and  eastern 
Oregon,  along  the  coast  and  the  Columbia  River 
in  both  Oregon  and  Washington,  and  through 
the  numerous  mining  camps  of  Idaho.^  The 
metropolis  of  the  Northwest  was  Portland, 
which  boasted  8293  inhabitants  —  an  increase 
since  the  census  of  i860  of  5425. 

The  great  valley  of  western  Oregon  was  in  The  wn- 
1870   the    only   district    of    this    entire  region  vaUeyand 
that  was  fully  settled  by  an  agricultural  popu-  southern 
lation ;    and  even   here,  while   the    lands  were 
nearly    all    occupied,    large    portions    of   them 
remained  untilled.      The  grain  raised  on  the 
farms  was  shipped  down  the  river  to  Portland 
in  steamboats,  and  great  herds  of  cattle  were 
driven  across  the  mountains  to  supply  the  min- 
ing camps  as  far  east  as  Montana,  and  to  stock 
the  ranches  now  beginning  to  be  established 
in  many  portions  of  the  Inland  Empire.     The 
towns  of  the  valley,  aside  from  Portland,  were 
all  mere    villages,    centers   of   an    agricultural 
trade.     Southern  Oregon,  where  farming,  stock 

1  Southern  Oregon  had  about  12,000  people,  eastern  Oregon 
10,500,  the  coast  and  Columbia  River  districts  4250.  The  coun- 
ties bordering  on  the  Sound  had  one  half  of  the  24,000  people  in 
Washington,  while  the  region  east  of  the  Cascades  had  7000  of 
the  remainder.  Idaho  contained  15,000  people  (lacking  one), 
scattered  through  a  score  or  more  of  mining  camps. 


28o     A   HISTORY   OF   THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 


raising,  and  mining  were  all  carried  on  together, 
was  enjoying  a  fair  degree  of  prosperity;  but 
here  also,  as  on  the  upper  Columbia,  no  great 
development  in  agriculture  was  possible  with- 
out railroads  to  open  up  a  wider  market  for 
[  the  products  of  the  soil.  The  Coos  Bay 
^  district  had  already  become  famous  loFrts  coal, 
and  in  1874  sent  45,000  tons  to  San  Francisco. 
Puget  Sound  was  acquiring  a  world-wide 
reputation  for  its  manufactories  of  lumber. 
Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  California  market, 
capitalists  from  the  East  and  from  San  Fran- 
cisco began  here  the  establishment  of  those 
enormous  lumbering  plants  which  have  been 
the  wonder  of  so  many  visitors  to  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  small  water-power  mills  of  the 
pioneering  time  sank  into  insignificance  or 
ceased  to  exist ;  while  monster  steam  mills, 
planted  at  a  few  of  the  most  favorable  points, 
practically  monopolized  the  business.  Each 
of  the  great  sawmills  supported  a  settlement, 
made  up  at  first  almost  entirely  of  the  company's 
employes.  After  a  while,  with  the  occupation 
of  the  farming  lands  in  their  vicinity,  some  of 
these  grew  into  important  market  and  shipping 
points.  But  the  towns  of  western  Wash- 
ington were  for  a  long  time  behind  Walla 
Walla  both  in  wealth  and  in  population.  In 
1870  Olympia,  the  largest  of  them,  had  but 
1200    people,    while    Seattle    had    iioo,    and 


If  THE   AGE   OF    RAILWAYS  28 1 

Tacoma  73.  As  late  as  twenty  years  ago 
Seattle  had  scarcely  outgrown  the  conditions 
of  a  village.  There  was  some  talk  of  connect- 
ing this  region  by  rail  with  Oregon  on  the 
south,  and  with  the  Inland  Empire  on  the 
east.  But  nothing  had  as  yet  been  done,  and 
the  Sound  country  was  almost  completely  shut 
off  from  all  other  sections  of  the  Northwest. 
Social  conditions  had  been  very  unsatisfactory 
in  the  little  lumbering  communities,  because 
there  were  so  many  single  men  without  homes, 
and  but  few  families.  This  difficulty  was  keenly 
felt,  and  very  unusual  efforts  were  made  to  over- 
come it.  In  1866  a  shipload  of  young  women 
was  brought  to  Seattle  from  the  East.  This  led 
to  the  planting  of  many  new  homes,  promoted 
farm  life,  and  brought  about  a  great  improve- 
ment in  the  character  of  the  settlement.  Puget 
Sound  and  the  entire  Northwest  owe  a  debt 
of  gratitude  to  these  excellent  women,  many 
of  whom,  fortunately,  are  still  living  to  enjoy 
the  prosperity  which  their  coming  to  this  far- 
off  coast  did  so  much  to  create.^ 

Such,  briefly,  was  the  situation  of  the  North-  General  con- 
west  at  the  beginning  of  the  railroad  age.     It  ^^'^thwesl^^ 
was  a  region  containing  a  score  or  more  of  dis-  in  1870 
tinct  settlements,  most  of  which  had   little  in 

^  ^'  They  have  proved  a  blessing  to  every  community  from  the 
CowHtz  north  to  the  boundary  line/'  C.  B.  Bagley  in  Quarterly 
of  the  Oregon  Historical  Society,  March,  1904. 


282      A   HISTORY   OF  THE  PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 


Railroad 
building 
attracts 
emigration 


common  with  any  of  the  others.  Each  went 
its  own  way,  producing  what  it  could,  seUing 
what  it  might,  in  the  mines,  in  San  Francisco, 
and  in  Portland.  Because  there  was  little 
intercourse  between  the  sections,  there  was  a 
good  deal  of  jealousy  and  ill  will.  Politically 
the  Northwest  was  now  divided  into  three 
parts,  Idaho  having  been  set  off  as  a  separate 
territory  in  1863;  but  the  lack  of  unity  within 
the  separate  divisions  made  possible  numerous 
schemes  for  changes  in  boundaries,  the  creation 
of  new  territories,  and  so  on.  At  one  time 
there  was  a  plan  to  unite  the  WiHamette  valley 
and  Puget  Sound  into  one  state,  making 
another  of  the  entire  inland  country;  again 
it  was  proposed  to  annex  the  Walla  Walla 
country  to  Oregon ;  to  unite  northeastern 
Washington  with  northern  Idaho,  and  make  a 
separate  state  of  this ;  to  attach  southeastern 
Washington  to  southern  Idaho  and  eastern 
Oregon. 

The  railroads  soon  produced  a  great  trans- 
formation in  almost  every  respect.  The  men 
who  were  responsible  for  the  construction  of 
these  lines  were  especially  anxious  to  attract 
emigrants  to  the  Northwest,  in  order  to  de- 
velop its  great  resources  and  thus  create  busi- 
ness for  the  roads.  Emigration  bureaus  were 
formed  in  cities  of  the  Atlantic  coast;  pam- 
phlets describing  the  advantages  of  the  country 


THE  AGE  OF   RAILWAYS  283 

were  distributed  broadcast;  and    northwestern 
farm  lands  were  widely  advertised  in  the  news- 
papers.    As   a   result   the   population   of   this 
region  began  to  increase  with  great  rapidity  as  w 
compared  with  the  period  prior  to  1870.     As  A 
already  stated,  the  total  for  that  year  was  1 30,000.    1 
In  the  ten  years  from  1870  to  1880  there  was  an     [ 
addition  of  152,500;  in  the  next  decade  465,000; 
while  from  1890  to  1900  the  gain  was  330,000. 
It  is  interesting  to  note  that,  while  California 
was  far  in  advance  of  the  Northwest  when  the 
period  began,  and  continued  to  lead  for  another 
ten   years,  her   increase  since   1880   has   been 
very  much  less.     From   1870  to   1880  she  re- 
ceived 304,447;   in  the    next   decade  343,436; 
and  in  the  last  271,655.     In  other  words,  dur- 
ing  the  twenty  years  from  1880  to  1900  this 
northern    region    gained    795,000    people    as 
against  California's  615,000. 

The  growth  of  cities  is  yet  more  striking.  The  growth 
Thirty-four  years  ago  Portland  was  the  only  °^^^^^^^ 
town  approaching  10,000  population.  It  was  al- 
ready flourishing,  but  from  this  time  its  prog- 
ress was  remarkable.  The  census  of  1880 
gives  the  city  17,577;  that  of  ten  years  later 
46,385  ;  and  the  last  (1900)  90,426.  On  Puget 
Sound  the  village  of  Tacoma,  with  '/^  inhabit- 
ants in  1870  and  only  iioo  in  1880,  leaped 
by  1890  to  36,000.  During  the  last  ten-year 
period,  however,  very  little  gain  was  made,  the 


284      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

census  of  1900  showing  only  37,714.  Seattle 
presents  the  spectacle  of  a  town  which  has 
i^/  grown  in  twenty  years  from  a  village  of  3533 
A  people  to  a  city  of  80,271  people.  This  sur- 
prising result  is  due  largely  to  the  railroads, 
although  Seattle  has  in  recent  years  gained 
enormously    on    account    of    the    trade    wdth 


Falls  of  the  Spokane. 

Alaska.  East  of  the  Cascade  Mountains, 
towns  have  of  course  grown  less  rapidly;  but 
there  has  been  substantial  progress  in  all  three 
of  the  states  comprising  the  Pacific  NorthwestJ 
Idaho  in  1900  had  two  cities  of  over  4000 
each:  Boise,  5957,  and  Pocatello,  4045;  east- 
ern  Oregon   had   two:   Baker  City,  6663,  and 

^Washington  was  admitted  into  the  "Union  on  the  nth  of 
November,  1889;  Idaho  on  July  3,  1890. 


285 


^     OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


11  THE   AGE   OF  RAILWAYS  287 

Pendleton,  4406 ;  and  eastern  Washington  two, 
R/Valla  Walla  and  Spokane.  The  first  of  these 
contained  10,049  inhabitants  ;  the  latter,  36,848. 

Considering  that  Spokane  is  an  inland  town,  Spokane 
her  history  has  been  an  extraordinary  one.  A  TpJ^use' 
few  pioneers  settled  on  "  Spokane  Prairie  "  as  country 
early  as  1862,  and  stores  were  opened  near  the 
bridge  to  supply  the  wants  of  miners  going 
east  into  the  mountains.  But  for  some  years 
the  place  remained  very  insignificant.  In  1880 
it  had  but  350  inhabitants.  The  rapid  growth 
since  that  time  is  due  mainly  to  the  fact 
that  the  railroad  opened  up  near  Spokane  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  wheat-raising  districts 
in  the  world,  the  so-called  "  Palouse  "  country, 
stretching  southward  toward  Lewis  River. 
Having  a  magnificent  water  power  in  its  falls, 
Spokane  quickly  became  a  great  center  for  the 
manufacture  of  flour,  as  well  as  a  distributing 
point  both  for  the  rich  agricultural  region  to 
the  south  and  the  mining  districts  to  the  north 
and  east. 


"V^  OF  THE 
OF 

CALIFOJ 


s 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE    PACIFIC    NORTHWEST    OF   TO-DAY 

The  present  The  development  of  every  country  depends 
an  age  of  upon  the  number,  ability,  and  enterprise  of  the 
mation  pcoplc  inhabiting    it.     The  Pacific  Northwest 

has  been  especially  fortunate  in  the  character 
of  its  settlers,  who  were  men  and  women  of 
the  best  class  from  almost  every  portion  of  the 
United  States.  Until  very  recently,  however, 
their  numbers  have  been  so  limited  that  it  has 
not  been  possible  to  make  use  of  more  than 
a  small  portion  of  the  natural  resources  which 
this  region  affords.  As  the  early  traders  de- 
voted their  energies  to  securing  furs  of  wild 
animals,  so  the  early  settlers,  coming  a  few 
thousand  annually  with  ox  teams,  were  inter- 
ested mainly  in  obtaining  good  farms,  on  which 
to  raise  grain  and  cattle.  Although  some  of 
them  desired  to  do  so,  they  were  unable  to 
make  much  use  of  the  almost  limitless  forests 
of  excellent  timber,  the  valuable  fisheries  of 
the  coasts  and  rivers,  and  the  opportunities  for 
manufacturing  so  lavishly  provided  by  nature. 
And  so  it  has  been  down  to  the  present  time. 
Men  have  come  to  the  Northwest  primarily  for 
its   free  lands.     The  quantity  of   these  which 

288 


THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST   OF   TO-DAY      289 

could  be  taken  up  and  converted  into  farms  at 
slight  expense  was  so  vast  that  until  now  the 
increase  in  population  has  resulted  mainly  in 
an  enlargement  of  the  cultivated  areas.  While 
a  few  towns  have  grown  with  wonderful  rapid- 
ity, increasing  trade,  rather  than  manufacturing, 
has  been  the  chief  cause.  Now,  however,  the 
population  and  wealth  of  the  Northwest  have 
both  reached  the  point  where  a  rapid  develop- 
ment of  all  kinds  of  resources  becomes  possible ; 
and  the  astonishing  activity  manifested  every- 
where is  proof  that  this  country  is  undergoing 
a  great  transformation.  From  a  people  pur- 
suing agriculture  and  commerce  as  almost  the 
only  interests,  they  are  changing  rapidly  to  a 
complex  society,  engaged  in  a  multitude  of  dif- 
ferent occupations. 

Good  beginnings  have  already  been  made  in  Manufactur- 
many  lines  of  manufacturing.    Flour  and  lumber  ^"|  ^ZqI^^  ^ 
are  being  exported  to  the  markets  of  the  world ;  pects 
manufactures    of   iron,   wool,   and    paper   have 
reached  large  proportions ;  salmon  canning  is  a 
leading  industry  of  the  coast  region ;  and  ship- 
building has  attained  great  prominence.^     But 

1  From  the  earliest  settlement  of  the  country  the  Columbia  River 
and  Puget  Sound  districts  have  been  engaged  in  this  important  busi- 
ness, for  which  their  situation  probably  affords  greater  advantages 
than  are  possessed  by  any  other  portion  of  the  United  States. 
Most  of  the  vessels  thus  far  constructed  have  been  of  wood  ;  but 
the  launching  of  the  battleship  Nebraska  at  Seattle  on  the  7th 
of  October,  1904,  proves  that  the  Northwestern  shipyards  are 
already  equipped  for  building  the  heaviest  iron  ships. 


290     A  HISTORY  OF   THE   PACIFIC  NORTHWEST 

in  most  of  these  lines  there  is  room  for  almost 
indefinite  expansion.  For  example,  the  North- 
west has  the  greatest  body  of  standing  timber 
now  to  be  found  in  the  United  States.  The 
forests  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin,  and  Minnesota 
are  rapidly  disappearing,  while  the  demand  for 
timber  in  the  middle  West  and  the  East  is 
increasing.  The  result  is  a  wholly  new  activity 
in  northwestern  lumber,  marked  each  year  by 
the  establishment  of  many  new  mills  in  every 
portion  of  the  country,  and  a  rapidly  growing 
export  trade. 
Conditions  The  lumber  business  here,  as  in  the  older 
of  life  in  the  gtatcs,  has    been    a   pioneer  amono^    manufac- 

smaller  .  .      ,  .  f^t  r  ^ 

towns  turmg  mdustries.     Plants  for  the  manufacture 

of  excelsior,  furniture,  wagons,  and  carriages 
naturally  group  themselves  around  the  lumber 
mills  ;  while  the  successful  establishment  of  one 
line  of  industries  always  tends  to  attract  others 
to  the  same  locality.  These  influences  have 
helped  to  build  up  the  interior  towns,  many  of 
which  now  begin  to  take  on  the  appearance  of 
cities.  They  are  providing  themselves  with 
the  modern  conveniences,  such  as  electric  light- 
ing, water,  and  sewer  systems;  streets  are 
scientifically  graded,  and  in  a  few  cases  electric 
railways  have  already  been  built.  Socially,  also, 
these  smaller  places  are  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  large  seaport  cities  of  the  North- 
west, which  in  turn  keep  close  touch  with  the 


I 


THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST   OF   TO-DAY      291 

great  centers  of  population  on  the  Atlantic 
coast.  Churches,  benevolent  societies,  and 
raternal  orders  are  everywhere ;  the  common 
school  system  is  well  developed,  and  high 
schools,  until  recently  confined  to  the  larger 
places,  are  at  present  being  established  in  all 
towns  of  any  importance/  The  movement  for 
town  and  school  libraries,  local  historical  soci- 
eties, commercial  clubs,  women's  clubs,  and 
other  means  of  intellectual,  moral,  and  scientific 
development,  has  already  produced  good  results. 

The  rural  districts  have  been  less  fortunate,  imp 
Most  of  the  farms  are  large,  even  in  the  well- 
settled  sections,  thus  scattering  the  population 
thinly  over  the  country.  Moreover,  roads  have 
generally  been  bad,  making  it  difficult  for 
farmers  to  communicate  with  each  other,  or 
with  the  neighboring  towns.  In  short,  farm 
life,  while  independent,  healthful,  and  profitable 
in  a  financial  way,  has  here  as  in  many  other 
places  been  a  life  of  comparative  isolation, 
with  all  the  drawbacks  incident  to  that  fact. 
A  strong  movement  for  good  roads  has  recently 
been  inaugurated ;  rural  mail  delivery  prevails 
almost  everywhere ;  and  many  lines  of  telephone 
have  been  established.     Just  at  present  there  is 


1  There  are  also  numerous  academies  and  colleges  maintained 
by  private  or  denominational  means,  while  each  of  the  three  states 
has  its  agricultural  college,  its  normal  schools  for  the  training  of 
teachers,  and  its  state  university. 


rove- 
ments  in 
farm  life 


292      A   HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

a  decided  interest  in  the  building  of  electric 
railway  systems,  a  movement  which  promises  to 
produce  a  great  improvement  in  the  conditions 
of  farm  life.  At  the  same  time  the  methods  of 
agriculture  are  changing,  grain  raising  in  many 
places  giving  way  to  dairying,  hop  raising,  and 
fruit  growing,  all  of  which  tend  to  break  up 
the  over-large  farms,  and  to  draw  the  country 
population  more  closely  together. 

One  of  the  most  significant  movements  of 
the  present  time  is  the  development  of  irriga- 
tion schemes,  in  which  the  national  government, 
the  state  governments,  and  private  parties  are 
all  taking  an  active  interest.  The  Inland 
Empire  contains  immense  stretches  of  other- 
wise excellent  land  which  receives  naturally 
too  little  moisture  to  produce  paying  crops. 
Much  of  this  is  so  located  that  water  can  be 
supplied  artificially;  and  when  this  is  done  a 
previously  desert  spot  is  instantly  transformed 
into  a  garden.  Some  of  the  most  charming 
districts  of  the  Northwest,  like  Payette  valley 
in  Idaho,  the  Yakima  valley  in  Washington, 
and  Hood  River  in  Oregon,  illustrate  the 
effects  of  irrigation.  There  are  now  on  foot 
well-matured  plans  of  reclamation,  which,  when 
completed,  will  provide  homes  for  nearly  half  a 
million  people  on  lands  till  now  covered  with 
sage  brush.  The  present  extraordinary  growth 
of  Idaho  and  eastern  Washington  is  explained 


THE    PACIFIC   NORTHWEST   OF   TO-DAY      293 

by  this  fact.  But  this  is  not  all.  The  benefits 
of  irrigation  are  becoming  so  well  understood 
that  the  fruit  growers  and  dairymen  of  southern 
Oregon  are  employing  it  in  order  to  overcome 
the  disadvantages  of  their  long  dry  season; 
and  even  in  the  Willamette  valley,  where  the 
rains  continue  longer  in  spring  and  begin  ear- 
lier in  fall,  ditches  are  being  opened  to  irrigate 
ordinary  farm  land.  The  possibilities  pre- 
sented by  this  newly  awakened  interest  are  far- 
reaching.  Under  irrigation  a  few  acres  will 
support  a  family,  and  indeed  large  farms  are 
out  of  the  question.  The  general  adoption  of 
this  method  of  agriculture  would  mean  the  fre- 
quent division  of  the  present  farms  and  the  mul- 
tiplication of  homes,  with  all  the  advantages  of 
a  dense  population  over  a  sparse  one. 

We  have  thus  indicated  some  of  the  forces  The  new 
now  at  work  tending  to  transform  the  Pacific  Jhl^North- 
Northwest,  and  to  give  it  the  importance  which  west 
the  vastness  of  its  territory  and  multiplicity  of 
its  resources  have  long  foreshadowed.     Its  ad- 
vantages  are    becoming    understood,   and   the 
region  is  at  last  beginning  to  receive  that  full 
tide  of  immigration  for  which  it  waited  longer 
than  any  other  great  section  of  the  West.     It 
is  a  movement  of  both  capitalists  and  laborers. 
Some  are  attracted   by  the    opportunities   for 
agriculture ;    some  by  the  rich   and  extensive 
mineral  deposits   awaiting   development;   and 


294     A  HISTORY   OF   THE   PACIFIC   NORTHWEST 

others  by  their  interest  in  commerce  and  manu- 
facturing. Thoughtful  men  everywhere  have 
been  impressed  by  the  advantage  which  this 
region  is  acquiring  from  the  extension  of  Amer- 
ican commerce  in  the  Orient;  from  the  pro- 
spective construction  of  the  Panama  Canal ;  and 
from  the  plans  now  matured  for  opening  the 
Columbia  River  beyond  the  Great  Falls,  so  as 
to  allow  large  vessels  to  penetrate  far  beyond 
the  Cascade  Mountains  and  bring  the  Inland 
Empire  to  the  sea. 
Blending  of  Just  at  this  time,  when  growth  in  all  material 
the  two  ages  things  is  proceeding  at  so  rapid  a  rate,  and  when 
the  people  of  this  great  section  are  turning  their 
eyes  with  joyful  anticipation  toward  the  future, 
the  historic  past  is  likewise  claiming  for  itself, 
through  the  centennial  anniversary  of  Lewis 
and  Clark's  exploration,  an  increased  measure 
of  attention.  This  is  one  of  the  fortunate  things 
in  the  present  situation ;  for  if  the  spirit  of  the 
pioneer  age,  its  rugged  independence,  strong 
homely  virtues,  and  wholesome  aspirations,  can 
be  carried  over  and  blended  with  the  best  the 
new  time  gives,  the  future  greatness  of  our 
civilization  in  the  Northwest  is  assured. 


APPENDIX 


GOVERNORS   OF   OREGON 

Provisional  Government 

David  Hill,  Alanson  Beers,  and  1    ,  ,  r-         r-  o      ^      o 

Joseph  Gale   .     ....     .   |   ist  Exec.  Com.,  1843  to  1844 

P.  G.  Stewart,  O.  Russell,  and  1      1  t-         /-  0^0 

W.  J.  Bailey  .     .     .     .     .     .   |  ^^  ^^^^-  ^^^^•'  ^^44  to  1845 

George  Abernethy June  3,  1845,  to  March  3,  1849 

Territorial  Government 

Joseph  Lane March  3,  1849,  to  June  18,  1850 

Kintzing  Pritchett       ....     June  18,  1850,  to  Aug.  18,  1850 

John  P.  Gaines Aug.  18,  1850,  to  May  16,  1853 

Joseph  Lane May  16,  1853,  to  May  19,  1853 

George  L.  Curry May  19,  1853,  to  Dec.  2,  1853 

John  W.  Davis Dec.  2,  1853,  to  Aug.  i,  1854 

George  L.  Curry Aug.  i,  1854,  to  March  3,  1859 


State  Government 


John  Whiteaker 
A.  C.  Gibbs      . 
George  L.  Woods 
La  Fayette  Grover 
S.  F.  Chadwick 
W.  W.  Thayer 
Z.  F.  Moody 
Sylvester  Pennoyer 
William  P.  Lord 
T.  T.  Geer   .     . 
George  E.  Chamberlain 


March  3,  1859,  to  Sept. 
Sept.  10,  1862,  to  Sept. 
Sept.  12,  1866,  to  Sept. 

Sept.  14,  1870,  to  Feb 

Feb.  I,  1877,  to  Sept. 
Sept.  II,  1878,  to  Sept. 

Sept.  13,  1882,  to  Jan. 

Jan.  12,  1887,  to  Jan. 

.  Jan.  14,  1895,  to  Jan 

.  Jan.  9,  1899,  to  Jan. 

.      Jan.  14,  1903,  to  — 

295 


10, 

1862 

12, 

1866 

H, 

1870 

•  h 

1877 

II, 

1878 

13, 

1882 

12, 

1887 

14, 

1895 

9i 

1899 

14, 

1903 

296 


APPENDIX 


GOVERNORS   OF  WASHINGTON 

Territorial  Government 

Isaac  I.  Stevens 1853101857 

Fayette  McMullen 1857  to  1859 

R.  D.  Gholson 1859  to  1861 

W.  H.  Wallace 1861  to  1862 

W.  M.  Pickering 1862  to  1866 

George  E.  Cole 1866  to  1867 

Marshal  F.  Moore 1867  to  1869 

Alvin  Flanders 1869  to  1870 

Edward  S.  Salomon 1870  to  1872 

Elisha  P.  Ferry 1872  to  1880 

W.  A.  Newell 1880  to  1884 

Watson  C.  Squire 1884  to  1887 

Eugene  Semple 1887  to  1889 

Miles  C.  Moore 1889 

State  Government 

Elisha  P.  Ferry 1889  to  1893 

John  H.  McGraw 1893  to  1897 

John  R.  Rogers 1897  to  1901 

Henry  McBride 1901  to  1905 

Albert  E.  Mead 1905 


GOVERNORS   OF   IDAHO 
Territorial  Government 


William  H.  Wallace 
Caleb  Lyon  .     .     . 
David  M.  Ballard  . 
Samuel  Bard      .     . 
Gilman  Marston 
Alexander  H.  Connor 
Thomas  M.  Bowen 
Thomas  W.  Bennett 
David  P.  Thompson 


March  10,  1863,  to  Feb.  26,  1864 
Feb.  26,  1864,  to  April  10,  1866 

April  ID,  1866,  to  March  30,  1870 

March  30,  1870,  to  June  7,  1870 

June  7,  1870,  to  Jan.  12,  1871 

Jan.  12,  1871,  to  April  19,  1871 

April  19,  1871,  to  Oct.  24,  1871 

Oct.  24,  1 87 1,  to  Dec.  16,  1875 

Dec.  16,  1875,  to  July  24,  1876 


APPENDIX 


297 


Mason  Brayman 
John  P;  Hoyt  . 
John  B-.  Neil  . 
John  N.  Irwin  . 
William  M.  Bunn 
Edward  A.  Stevenson 
George  L.  Shoup    .     . 


July  24,  1876,  to  Aug.  7,  1878 
Aug.  7,  1878,  to  July  12,  1880 
.  July  12,  1880,  to  March  2,  1883 
March  2,  1883,  to  March  26,  1884 
March  26,  1884,  to  Sept.  29,  1885 
.  Sept.  29,  1885,  to  April  i,  1889 
.     .      April  I,  1889,  to ,  1890 


State  Government 

George  L.  Shoup 1890  to  1891 

N.  B.  Willey 1891  to  1892 

William  J.  McConnell 1893  to  1897 

Frank  Steunenberg 1897  to  1901 

Frank  W.  Hunt 1901  to  1903 

John  T.  Morrison 1903  to  1905 

Frank  R.  Gooding 1905 


U.  S.  SENATORS   FROM   OREGON 


Delazon  Smith Feb.  14,  1859,  to  Nov.  3,  1859 

Joseph  Lane Feb.  14,  1859,  to  March  3,  1861 

Edward  D.  Baker March  4,  1861,  to  Oct.  21,  1861 

Benjamin  Stark Oct.  21,  1861,  to  Sept.  11,  1862 

Benjamin  F.  Harding  .  .  .  Sept.  11,  1862,  to  March  3,  1865 
James  W.  Nesmith  ....  March  4,  1861,  to  March  3,  1867 
George  H.  Williams  ....  March  4,  1865,  to  March  3,  1871 
Henry  W.  Corbett      ....    March  4,  1867,  to  March  3,  1873 

James  K.  Kelley March  4,  187 1,  to  March  3,  1877 

John  H.  Mitchell March  4,  1873,  to  March  3,  1879 

John  H.  Mitchell March  4,  1885,  to  March  3,  1897 

John  H.  Mitchell  .  March  4,  1901  (term  expires  March  3,  1907) 
La  Fayette  Grover       ....    March  4,  1879,  to  March  3,  1883 

Joseph  N.  Dolph March  4,  1883,  to  March  3,  1895 

George  W.  McBride  ....  March  4,  1895,  to  March  3,  1901 
Henry  W.  Corbett      (Appointed  by  Governor,  not  seated  ;  1897) 

Joseph  Senion Oct.  8,  1898,  to  March  3,  1903 

Charles  W.  Fulton,  March  4,  1903  (term  expires  March  3,  1909) 


298 


APPENDIX 


U.  S.  SENATORS   FROM   WASHINGTON 

Watson  C.  Squire       ....    March  4,  1889,  to  March  3,  1897 

John  B.  Allen March  4,  1889,  to  March  3,  1893 

John  B.  Allen    .     .   (Appointed  by  Governor,  not  seated;  1893) 

John  L,  Wilson March  4,  1895,  to  March  3,  1899 

George  Turner March  4, 1897,  to  March  3,  1903 

Addison  G.  Foster  ....  March  4,  1899,  to  March  3,  1905 
Levi  Ankeny  .  .  March  4,  1903  (term  expires  March  3,  1909) 
Samuel  H.  Piles     .    March  4,  1905  (term  expires  March  3,  191 1) 


U.  S.  SENATORS   FROM   IDAHO 

William  J.  McConnell     .     .     .    January,  1891,  to  March  3,  1891 

George  L.  Shoup January,  1891,  to  March  3,  1901 

Fred  T.  Dubois March  4,  1891,  to  March  3,  1897 

Henry  Heitfeld March  4,  1897,  to  March  3,  1903 

Fred  T.  Dubois      .    March  4,  1901  (term  expires  March  3,  1907) 
Weldon  B.  Heyburn,  March  4, 1903  (term  expires  March  3, 1909) 


CONGRESSIONAL   REPRESENTATIVES  FROM 
OREGON 

Territorial  Period 

Samuel  R.  Thurston  ....      Feb.  15,  1849,  to  April  9,  185 1 
Joseph  Lane June  2,  185 1,  to  Feb.  14,  1859 


Statehood  Period 


La  Fayette  Grover 
Lansing  Stout  .  . 
George  K.  Shiel  . 
John  R.  McBride  . 
J.  H.  D.  Henderson 
Rufus  Mallory  .  . 
Joseph  S.  Smith  . 
James  H.  Slater  . 
Joseph  S.  Wilson  . 


Feb.  15,  1859,  to  March  3,  1859 
March  4,  1859,  to  March  3,  1861 
March  4,  186 1,  to  March  3,  1863 
March  4,  1863,  to  March  3,  1865 
March  4,  1865,  to  March  3,  1867 
March  4, 1867,  to  March  3,  1869 
March  4,  1869,  to  March  3,  1871 
March  4,  187 1,  to  March  3,  1873 
(Died  before  qualifying,  1873) 


APPENDIX  299 

James  W.  Nesmith  ....  March  4,  1873,  to  March  3,  1875 
George  A.  La  Dow     ....       (Died  before  qualifying,  1875) 

La  Fayette  Lane Oct.  25,  1875,  to  March  3,  1877 

Richard  WilHams March  4,  1877,  to  March  3,  1879 

John  Whiteaker March  4,  1879,  to  March  3,  1881 

M.  C.  George March  4,  1881,  to  March  3,  1885 

Binger  Herman March  4,  1885,  to  March  3,  1899 

W.  R.  ElHs       March  4,  1893,  to  March  3,  1899 

Thomas  H.  Tongue,  March  4, 1897,  to  Jan.  11, 1903  (died  in  office) 
Malcoh-n  A.  Moody  ....  March  4,  1899,  to  March  3,  1903 
Binger  Herman,  June  i,  1903  (present  term  expires  March  3, 1907) 
John  N.  Williamson    .     .      March  4,  1903  (present  term  expires 

March  3,  1907) 


CONGRESSIONAL   REPRESENTATIVES    FROM 
WASHINGTON 

Territorial  Period 

Columbia  Lancaster 1854  to  1855 

J.  Patton  Anderson 1855  to  1857 

Isaac  I.  Stevens 1857  to  1861 

W.  H.  Wallace 1861  to  1863 

George  E.  Cole 1863  to  1865 

A.  A.  Denny 1865  to  1867 

Alvan  Flanders 1867  to  1869 

S.  Garfielde       1869  to  1872 

A.  B.  McFadden 1872  to  1874 

Orange  Jacobs 1874  to  1878 

Thomas  H.  Brents 1878  to  1884 

C.  S.  Voorhees 1884  to  1888 

John  B.  Allen 1888  to  1889 

Statehood  Period 

John  L.  Wilson March  4,  1889,  to  March  3,  1895 

W.  H.  Doolittle March  4,  1893,  to  March  3,  1897 

S.C.Hyde March  4,  1895,  to  March  3,  1897 

W.  L.  Jones,    March  4,  1897  (present  term  expires  March  3, 1907) 
James  Hamilton  Lewis     .     .     .    March  4,  1897,  to  March  3, 1899 


300 

F.  W.  Cushman     .     . 
William  E.  Humphrey 


APPENDIX 

.     .      March  4,  1899,  to  Nov.  4,  1905 

March  4,  1905  (present  term  expires 

March  3,  1907) 


CONGRESSIONAL  REPRESENTATIVES   FROM 
IDAHO 


Territorial  Period 

William  H.  Wallace    ....  March  4, 

Edward  D.  Holbrook       .     .     .  March  4, 

Jacob  K.  Shafer March  4, 

Samuel  A.  Merritt       ....  March  4, 

Stephen  S.  Fenn March  4, 

John  Hailey March  4. 

George  Ainshe       March  4, 

Theodore  F.  Singiser      .     .     .  March  4, 

John  Hailey March  4, 

Fred  T.  Dubois March 


1 864,  to  March  3, 

1865 

1865,  to  March  3, 

1869 

1869,  to  March  3, 

1871 

1 871,  to  March  3, 

1873 

1873,  to  March  3, 

1877 

1877,  to  March  3, 

1879 

1879,  to  March  3, 

1883 

1883,  to  March  3, 

1885 

1885,  to  March  3, 

1887 

4,  1887,  to  Jan.    , 

1890 

Statehood  Period 


Wilhs  Sweet 
Edgar  Wilson    . 
James  Gunn 
Thomas  L.  Glenn 
Burton  L.  French 


.  January,  1890,  to  March  3,  1893 
.  March  4,  1893,  to  March  3,  1897 
.  March  4,  1897,  to  March  3,  1901 
.  March  4,  1901,  to  March  3,  1903 
March  4,  1903  (present  term  expires 
March  3,  1907) 


UNIVERSITY 

OF  K  ^ 

CALiroJ^ 


INDEX 


Abernethy,     George,     visited     by    African    Association,   in   London, 


Lieutenant  Wilkes,  173;  gov- 
ernor, see  Appendix. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  relation  to 
Oregon  Question,  134;  136. 

Agriculture,  61 ;  among  Indians, 
65,  147,  155-156,  221;  at  Van- 
couver, 120,  121;  possibilities  of, 
on  Columbia  overestimated,  132; 
'  begun  by  Wyeth's  men,  145;  at 
or  near  Willamette  Mission,  149- 
150;  at  interior  missions,  152, 
155,  156,  221;  in  Willamette 
valley,  state  of  in  1841,  173- 
174;  advantages  of,  for,  160- 
161,  178-179,  206-207;  effect  of 
gold  discovery  on,  240;  state  of 
about  1870,  279,  292,  293;  on 
Puget  Sound,  211,  212,  243,  281; 
in  southern  Oregon,  beginnings 
of,  246,  247,  280;  irrigation,  ef- 
fects on,  293;  in  Inland  Empire, 
possibilities  tested  by  missiona- 
ries, 254,  255  ;  testimony  of  Gen- 
eral Stevens,  255;  development 
delayed  by  Indian  War,  255- 
256;  promoted  by  mining,  262; 
in  Walla  Walla  valley,  262-266; 
in  Grand  Ronde  valley,  266- 
269;  other  inland  sections,  269- 
270;  development  waits  on  rail- 
ways, 270,  280;  effects  produced 
by  railways,  282-285 ;  new  con- 
ditions in,  286,  289,  291-293. 

Africa,  way  around,  opened  by 
Vasco  da  Gama,  3. 


Ledyard  explores  for,  in  Africa, 
56. 

Alargon,  Spanish  explorer,  6. 

Alaska,  N.  W.  Coast  and,  Chap.  IT, 
15-27,  31;  see  Bering,  Cook, 
Cuadra,  Russia,  Great  Britain; 
Astor  trades  with  Russians  in, 
loi,  112,  115;  H.  B.  Co.  like- 
wise, 121;  southern  boundary 
fixed,  128,  207;  Seattle's  trade 
with,  284. 

Albatross,  112,  113. 

Albion,  New,  12,  13. 

Alleghany  Mountains,  crossing  of, 
by  pioneers,  58;  communication 
with  East,  61. 

America,  Central,  2,  3. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners 
of  Foreign  Missions,  sends  Dr. 
Parker  to  Oregon,  152.  See 
Missions. 

American  Fur  Company,  organized 
by  Astor,  100.     See  Astor. 

American  Philosophical  Society, 
Jefferson's  connection  with,  50, 5 1. 

Anian,  Straits  of,  mentioned  by 
Carver,  49. 

Applegate,  Jesse,  "  A  Day  with  the 
Cow-Column"  quoted,  185-192; 
204;  negotiates  with  H.  B.  Co., 
212;  on  P.  S.  Ogden,  214;  in 
southern  Oregon,  246-247. 

Arctic  Ocean,  new  knowledge  con- 
cerning, gained  by  Hearne,  23, 
48;   by  Mackenzie,  97. 


301 


302 


INDEX 


Argonaut,  British  vessel  seized  by 
Spaniards    at    Nootka    Sound, 

32. 

Aricara  villages,  visited  by  Hunt's 
party,  106. 

"Ark,"  or  flatboat,  used  on  Mis- 
sissippi, 61. 

Arkansas  River,  44,  45. 

Armada,  Spanish,  destroyed  by 
British  seamen,  15. 

Armstrong,  Captain  John,  tries  to 
explore  the  West,  56. 

Ashburton,  Lord,  makes  treaty 
with  United  States  for  Great 
Britain,  176. 

Ashley,  General  William  H.,  or- 
ganizes Rocky  Mountain  Fur 
Co.,  139;  secures  H.  B.  Co.  furs, 
140;  and  the  discovery  of  South 
Pass,  142. 

Assiniboin  River,  97. 

Astor,  J.  J.,  plans  Western  fur  trade, 
100;  see  Columbia  River  fur 
trade;  urges  U.  S.  to  secure 
Astoria  after  treaty  of  1814, 
124;  tries  to  combine  with  Mis- 
souri Fur  Co.,  139. 

Astoria,  founded,  103 ;  described 
by  Franchere,  103  ;  emporium 
of  Columbia  River  fur  trade, 
103-H4  ;  bought  by  N.  W.  Co., 
and  afterward  taken  by  the 
British  warship  Raccoon,  113; 
name  changed  to  Fort  George, 
113  ;   restoration  to  U.  S.,  126. 

Athabasca  River,  97. 

Australia,  Cook  explores,  23 ; 
trade  with  California,  236. 

Babcock,  Dr.  Ira  L.,  goes  to 
Dalles  mission,  171  ;  elected 
supreme  and  probate  judge  by 
Willamette  valley  settlers,   199. 

Baffin's  Bay,  23. 

Bagley,  C.  B.,  private  library  of, 
244;   quoted,  281. 


Bagot,   ,    British   minister   to 

U.  S.,  protests  against  the  On- 
tario's being  sent  to  Colum- 
bia, 125. 

Baker,  Dr.  D.  S.,  builds  Walla 
Walla  and  Columbia  River  Rail- 
way, 270. 

City,  276,  284. 

Balboa,  discovers  Pacific  Ocean, 
I,  2  ;   explores,  4,  27. 

Ball,  John,  with  Wyeth,  first  school 
teacher  in  Oregon,  122. 

Bear,  grizzly,  Lewis's  encounter 
with,  80. 

Bear  Flag  revolt,  232-233. 

Bear  River,  trail  along,  238. 

Beaver,  abundance  of,  on  Colum- 
bia, 95. 

Beaver,  Astor's  second  ship  to 
Columbia,  107  ;  sails  to  China, 
112. 

Beers,  Alanson,  and  family,  151. 

Bellingham  Bay,  coal  found  near, 

243- 

Benton,  Thomas  H.,  on  Oregon 
Question,  133  ;  writes  letter  to 
Oregon  people,  217;  advocates 
railroad  to  San  Francisco  Bay, 
272. 

,  Fort,  261. 

Bent's  Port,  220. 

Bering,  Vitus,  Danish  navigator  in 
service    of    Russia,  discoveries, 

Strait^;   discovery  of,  22, 

23,  26. 
Bible,    inquiry   for,    by   Columbia 

River  Indians,  147-148. 
Biddle,    Captain,     dispatched     to 

Columbia,  124,   126. 
,  Nicholas,   edits   Lewis   and 

Clark's  journals,  93. 
Bighorn    Mountains,    crossed    by 

Hunt's  party,    166. 
Bitter  Root  Mountains,  crossed  by 

Lewis  and  Clark,  85,  86. 


INDEX 


303 


Blackfoot  Indians,  attitude  tow- 
ard Hunt's  party,  106  ;    139. 

Black  Hawk,  250. 

Blanchet,  Rev.  feather,  mission  of, 
in  Willamette  valley,  173  ;  atti- 
tude toward  provisional  govern- 
ment, 199. 

Blockhouses,  Fort  Mandan  a  series 
of,  78. 

Blue  Mountains,  timber  of,  269. 

Blue  Ridge  Mountains,  Jefferson's 
home  near,  50. 

Boise,  population  of,  284. 

,  Fort,  194,  209. 

valley,  mining  in,  257,  259 ; 

agriculture  in,  269. 

Bonneville,  Captain,  fur  trader, 
operations  in  Oregon  country, 
142. 

Boone,  Daniel,  50,  58,  76 ;  inter- 
viewed by  Bradbury,  106  ;  180. 
Boston  Ships,"  on  California 
coast,  229. 

Boston  merchants,  engage  in  the 
fur  trade  of  N.  W.  Coast  and 
China,  37-39. 

Bradbury,  English  naturalist,  his 
"Travels  in  America"  quoted, 
106. 

Brewer, ,  missionary  assistant, 

goes  to  Dalles,  171. 

British   Columbia,   gold    rush    to, 

257- 

Broughton,  Lieutenant,  enters  Co- 
lumbia River,  42  ;  takes  posses- 
sion of  country  for  Great  Britain, 
125-126. 

Bryant,  William  CuUen,  popular- 
izes name  "  Oregon,"  128. 

Buchanan,  James,  writes  to  Ore- 
gon people,  217. 

Buffalo,  herds  seen  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  78 ;  in  camp  at  night, 
80;  hunted  by  emigrants,   189. 

Burnett,  Peter  H.,  helps  raise  emi- 
grating company,   184;   quoted, 


184-185,  207,  208;  letters  to 
N.  Y.  Herald,  195  ;  "  Recollec- 
tions," 208  ;  goes  to  California, 

235- 
Burnt  River,  257. 

Cabrillo,  Spanish  explorer,  explores 
coast  of  California,  7,  8,  14,  31. 

Calhoun,  John  C,  and  Tyler,  178; 
opposes  Oregon  Territorial  Bill, 
216,  217. 

CaUfornia,  origin  of  name,  6 ;  dis- 
covery of,  7  ;  coast  explored,  7, 
8,9;  Drake  in,  12,  13;  Viz- 
caino explores,  14;  planting  of 
presidios  a^  missions,  16,  17, 
18  ;  northern  explorations  from, 
18-21  ;  ranches  in,  161  ;  condi- 
tions about  1846,  229  ;  Sutter's* 
Fort,  230 ;  Mexican  War,  con- 
quest of  California,  231-233; 
gold  discovery  and  its  effects, 
234-238 ;  on  N.  W.,  239-248 ; 
railroad  built  to,  from  the  East, 
272-273  ;  from  Oregon,  275  ; 
recent  growth  of,  compared  with 
that  of  N.  W.,  283. 

,  Gulf  of,  explored,  6,  7  ;  men- 
tioned, 44,  45. 

Peninsula,  discovery,  at- 
tempted colony,  5  ;  missions  in, 

17- 

Trail,  238. 

Canal,  Erie,  138. 

,  Interoceanic,  first  suggested 

in  1523,  4. 
Canton   (China),   becomes   center 

of  the  N.  W.  fur  trade,  28. 
Cape,  East,  named  by  Cook,  26. 

Flattery,  saw-mill  at,  242. 

of  Good  Hope,  13,  38. 

Horn,  -ii. 

Prince  of  Wales,  I,  26. 

Carver,  Captain  Jonathan,  travels 

in  the   West,  46-47  ;    uses  the 

name  "Oregon,"  47;    his  map, 


304 


INDEX 


48-49 ;  plan  to  seek  the  N.  W. 
Passage,  49. 

Cascade  Mountains,  divide  the  Ore- 
gon country  into  an  eastern  and 
a  western  section,  253 ;  broken 
through  at  one  point  by  the 
Columbia  River,  117,  253. 

Cascades  of  the  Columbia,  passed 
by  Lewis  and  Clark,  89  ;  obstruc- 
tion to  navigation,  260. 

Catholics.  See  Missions  and  Blan- 
chet. 

Cattle  Company,  Willamette,  for- 
mation and  effects  of,  161-163. 

Cauldron  Linn,  107. 

Cayuses.     See  Whitman  massacre. 

Cedros  Island,  reached  by  Ulloa,  6. 

Celilo,  or  Great  Falls  of  Columbia 
.  River,  89  ;  obstructs  navigation, 
260 ;  canal  around,  294. 

Central  America,  passage  through 
sought,  2,  3,  4. 

Central  Pacific  Railway,  273,  See 
Railways. 

Champlain,  French  explorer,  43. 

Champoeg,  visited  by  Wilkes,  172  ; 
settlers'  convention  at,  to  adopt 
a  plan  of  self-government,  202- 
204. 

Charles  the  Fifth,  9. 

Chillicothe,  town  in  Ohio  where 
Oregon  meetings  were  held  in 
1843,  187. 

China,  trade  with,  in  furs  begun, 
28;  from  U.  S.  opened,  36; 
Ledyard's  plan  to  trade  with, 
36-37 ;  Boston  merchants  send 
Columbia  to  Canton,  37  ;  Astor's 
project,  loi ;  Beaver  sails  for, 
112;  Russian  trade  with,  loi  ; 
the  China  trade  and  Oregon 
question,  130;  Chinese  laborers 
build   Central   Pacific    Railway, 

273- 
Chinook  Indians,  trade  with  Lewis 
and  Clark,  90. 


Chittenden,  Captain  H.  M.,  writes 
a  history  of  the  fur  trade,  138. 

Churchill  River,  23. 

Cibola,  Cities  of,  6. 

Cincinnati,  137. 

Cities,  growth  of,  in  California, 
236-237  ;  in  N.  W.,  283-285. 

Civil  War,  effect  of,  on  Pacific  rail- 
road projects,  272. 

Clackamas,  county  of,  210. 

Clark,  George  Rogers,  Jefferson 
writes  to,  al)out  a  transcontinen- 
tal expedition,  52. 

,  John,  fur  trader  of  Astor's 

party,  builds  Spokane  House, 
110. 

,    Miss,    missionary    teacher, 

goes  to  Nesqually  mission,  171. 

,  William,  selected  as  com- 
panion by  Lewis,  71  ;  early 
career  of,  71-72;  brother  of 
George  Rogers  Clark,  71  ;  rela- 
tions with  Lewis  on  the  journey, 
72  ;  appointed  Indian  agent  for 
the  West,  92 ;  receives  Nez 
Perces  visitors,  198 ;  death,  92. 
See  Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedi- 
tion. 

Clark's  Fork,  of  Columbia  River, 
85 ;  D.  Thompson  builds  fort 
on,  109  ;  Astor's  men  on,  no  ; 
reached  by  steamboats,  260. 

Clatsop,  county  of,  210. 

,   Fort,    camp   of  Lewis    and 

Clark  in  Oregon,  90. 

Indians  of  lower  Columbia, 

90. 

Clay,  Henry,  134. 

Clayoquot  Harbor,  Columbia  win- 
ters in,  38  ;  Tonquin  destroyed 
in,  104-105. 

Clearwater  River,  Lewis  and  Clark 
embark  at,  86  ;  Lapwai  mission 
on,  154;  gold  mining  on,  257, 
259  ;   agriculture  on,  269. 

Cceur  d'Alene  Prairie,  255. 


I 


INDEX 


305 


Colleges,  in  the  N.W.,  241. 

Colorado  River,  discovered  by 
Alargon,  6;  alluded  to,  44,  45. 

Cohuiihia  and  Lady  Washington, 
on  N.  W,  coast,  37-42. 

Columbia  River,  first  seen  by 
Heceta,  21  ;  Carver's  lack  of 
knowledge  of,  name  "  Oregon  " 
applied  to,  47  ;  entered  by  Gray 
in  ship  Columbia,  given  vessel's 
name,  38-39  ;  sought  by  Mac- 
kenzie overland,  97-98 ;  ex- 
plored by  Lewis  and  Clark, 
69-93  '■>  occupied  for  trading 
purposes  by  Astor,  99-1 14  ;  con- 
trolled by  N.  W.  and  H.  B. 
Cos.,  114-123;  American  traders 

•  visit,  139-145;  missions  planted 
on,  145-158  ;  beginnings  of 
American  colonization  on,  144, 
149-150 ;  British  desire  boun- 
dary at,  127,  135,  211;  main 
portion  of  river  falls  to  U.  S.  by 
treaty  of  1846,  216  ;  naviga- 
tion of,  260 ;  improvement  of, 
294. 

fur    trade,   begun    by  Astor 

party  in  181 1,  Astoria  built, 
102-103 ;  N-  W.  Co.'s  agents 
build  trading  posts  on  upper 
Columbia,  but  arrive  at  mouth 
of  river  too  late  to  prevent 
American  occupation,  108-109; 
ship  Tonquin  destroyed,  104- 
105;  Hunt's  overland  party,  105- 
107  ;  ship  Beaver  arrives  at 
Astoria,  107 ;  Fort  Okanogan 
founded,  109-110;  expansion  of 
trade,  lio-lll  ;  news  of  war, 
effect  of,  111-113;  N.  W.  Co. 
in  control,  trade  renewed,  115  ; 
H.  B.  Co.  absorbs  N.  W.  Co.,  116; 
dominates  fur  trade  of  northern 
half  of  North  America,  116;  Dr. 
John  McLoughlin  in  charge  on 
the  Columbia,  117;   builds  Fort 


Vancouver  as  western  emporium, 
1 1 7-1 1 8 ;  description  of  fort  and 
business  at,  1 1 8-1 23;  monopoly 
methods,  123,  145;  value  of  the 
trade,  120. 

Columbus,  town  in  Ohio  where  an 
Oregon  convention  was  agitated 
in  1843,  183,  214. 

Colville,  trading  post  at,  119;  min- 
ing near,  257,  259. 

Commerce,  influence  of  East  India 
trade  on  explorations,  3,  5  ; 
Spanish,  with  Philippines,  9,  14; 
of  trans-AUeghany  country  with 
New  Orleans,  61,  62;  cut  off 
by  Spaniards,  63  ;  influence  on 
Louisiana  Purchase,  63-64 ;  a 
highway  for,  to  the  Pacific,  see 
Lewis  and  Clarke  Expedition 
and  Oregon  question  ;  Wyeth's 
commercial  scheme,  142-145  ; 
between  Hawaii  and  Oregon, 
166,  169,  170;  Fort  Vancouver 
as  a  market,  174;  facilities  for, 
in  early  Oregon,  179,  207;  on 
Puget  Sound,  212;  in  California, 
229 ;  importance  of  San  Fran- 
cisco, 236  ;  her  commercial  in- 
fluence on  N.  W.,  236-237,  240, 

241,  242,  243  ;  of  Puget  Sound, 

242,  243,  244;  of  Inland  Empire, 
258-260,  262,  265,  266,  270;  of 
small  towns,  279;  of  Spokane, 
285 ;  causes  growth  of  cities, 
289;  Montana  trade,  260-262; 
of  Portland,  262-279,  283;  com- 
mercial development  of  Puget 
Sound,  283-284 ;  world  com- 
merce of  Pacific  N.  W.,  289,  294. 
See  Columbia  River  Fur  Trade 
awdi' Missouri  River. 

Compact,  government  by,  illus- 
trated by  Oregon  provisional 
government,  203. 

Cone,  Rev.  W.  W.,  missionary, 
171. 


3o6 


INDEX 


Congress.  See  Oregon  question 
and  Oregon,  Washington,  and 
Idaho  territories. 

Constitution,  102,  172-173. 

Constitutional  convention,  in  Ore- 
gon, 255  ;  adoption  of  Constitu- 
tion, 260. 

Cook,  Captain  James,  explores 
N.  W.  Coast,  22-27,  28,  42,  48. 

Inlet,  in  Alaska,  28. 

Coos  Bay,  settlements  begun  at, 
248;   coal  mining  at,  280. 

Coppermine  River,  explored  by 
Hearne,  23. 

Coronado,  6. 

Cortez,  Hernando,  explores  Pacific 
coast,  4,  5,  6,  7;   31. 

Coues,  Dr.  Elliott,  historian,  his 
muster  roll  of  Lewis  and  Clark's 
party,  75 ;  editor  of  journals,  93, 
108. 

Council  Bluff,  named  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  77. 

Cowlitz  River,  117. 

Cox,  Ross,  "  Adventures,"  etc.,  1 14. 

Cuadra,  Spanish  navigator,  on  N. 
W.  Coast,  21,  25;   31. 

Cushing,  Caleb,  report  on  Oregon 
question,  167,  168. 

Dakota,  260. 

Dalles  of  Columbia,  or  Long  Nar- 
rows, 89;  native  fish  market, 
94;    171,  256. 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  "Two  Years 
before  the  Mast,"  161. 

Darien,  i,  2. 

Dartmouth  College,  Ledyard  at- 
tends, 33,  34. 

"  Deception  Bay,"  named  by 
Meares,  39. 

Democratic  convention,  1844,  en- 
dorses "  Fifty-four-forty,"  215. 

Des  Chutes  River,  Wyeth  traps 
beaver  on,  145;  followed  by 
1845  emigration,  210. 


Discovery  and  Resolution,  Cook's 

ships,  23-26. 
Douglas,  James,  factor  of  H.  B. 

Co.,  175. 
,  Stephen  A.,  introduces  Ore- 
gon Territory  Bill,  217. 
Downing,  Susan,  missionary,  151. 
Drake,     Sir     Francis,     cruise     in 

Pacific,  10-14. 
Du   Bois   River,  Lewis  and  Clark 

camp  at,  75. 
Dunn,  John,  "  Oregon  Territory," 

etc.,  quoted,  121. 
Dye,     Eva      Emery,     author     of 

"Conquest,"  75;   "  McLoughlin 

and  Old  Oregon,"  118. 

Edgecumbe,  Mt.,  discovered,  21; 
named,  25. 

Edwards,  P.  L.,  with  Lee,  149; 
in  Willamette  Cattle  Co.,  162. 

Eells,  Rev.  C,  missionary  at 
Tsimakane,  156. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  10,  13. 

Elm  Grove,  emigrant  camp  at, 
184. 

Emigration,  to  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, etc.,  58;  necessary  for  safety 
of  Mississippi  River,  65;  to  Mis- 
souri valley,  76;  no  need  to 
cross  Rockies,  94;  few  had 
crossed  in  1827,  135;  settle- 
ment of  Oregon  question  waits 
upon,  136;  to  middle  West, 
1820,  137,  138;  early  settlers 
on  Willamette,  149,  1 50;  to 
Oregon  stimulated,  163;  politi- 
cal conditions  favoring,  167; 
Oregon  Provisional  Emigration 
Society,  168-170;  Jason  Lee 
promotes,  171,  172;  condition 
of  emigrants  of  184 1,  172-174; 
White's  company,  175,  176; 
the  great  emigration,  177-195; 
causes  of,  1 77-180;  organiza- 
tion,   182,    184,    185,    190;    the 


INDEX 


307 


march,  cow-column,  185-192; 
at  Fort  Hall,  192,  193;  the  road 
westward,  193,  194;  Whitman 
as  guide,  194;  reaches  Wil- 
lamette, 195;  sources  for,  195; 
effect  on  provisional  govern- 
ment, 196,  204;  on  later  emi- 
grations, 206,  207;  of  1844, 
207-208;  of  1845,  208-209; 
new  road  followed,  209-210 ; 
later,  see  Puget  Sound,  Cali- 
fornia, Inland  Empire,  Southern 
Oregon,  Railways. 

Empress  of  China,  ship  which 
opened  the  China  trade,  36. 

England,     15,     28,     29,     33,    34, 

52. 

Exploration  of  Missouri  and  Co- 
lumbia valleys.  See  Lewis  and 
Clark  Expedition,  Missouri  River, 
awa' Columbia  River. 

of  the  North.     See  Hearne, 

Samuel,  and  Mackenzie,  Sir 
Alexander. 

of  the  Pacific  coast,  by  Balboa 

and  his  companions,  from  Panama 
to  the  Gulf  of  Fonseca,  4;  by 
Cortez,  from  Mexico  to  the  Cali- 
fornia Peninsula,  5 ;  by  Ulloa,  to 
latitude  28°,  6;  by  Cabrillo  and 
Ferelo,  to  about  latitude  42°,  7- 
9;  by  Drake,  10-14;  ^7  Viz- 
caino, 14;  by  Russians  in  Alaska, 
to  about  60°,  16,  21,  22;  by 
Perez,  from  Monterey  to  about 
54°  40',  18-20;  by  Heceta  and 
Cuadra,  to  about  58°,  20-21 ;  by 
Cook,  from  44°  to  above  Cape 
Prince  of  Wales,  22-27. 

■ of  the  West,  by  Champlain 

and  Nicolet,  from  Canada  to 
Wisconsin,  43-44;  by  Joliet, 
Marquette,  and  La  Salle,  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  44;  Verendrye 
discovers  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
45-46;   the  French  hope  to  reach 


the  Pacific  via  the  Missouri  and 
a  west-flowing  river,  45-46; 
Carver  in  the  West,  see  Carver. 

Farnham,  T.  J.,  visits  Oregon,  166; 
writes  on  California  and  Oregon, 
166. 

Felice,  British  ship  seized  by  Span- 
iards at  Nootka  Sound,  37. 

Ferelo,  Spanish  explorer,  with  Ca- 
brillo, 7,  8. 

Fisheries,  whale,  on  N.  W.  Coast, 
130,  207;  Wyeth's  salmon  fish- 
ing project,  144,  145,  169;  value 
of,  179,  289. 

Flathead  Indians,  mission  planned 
for,  by  Methodists,  148;  traders 
among,  109,  no. 

Fletcher,  Francis,  historian  of 
Drake's    voyage,    10;     quoted, 

13. 

Florida,  16;  Jefferson  tries  to  buy 
West  Florida,  64;  purchase  of 
Florida,  128;  Spanish  rights  on 
Pacific  granted  to  United  States 
in  treaty  with  Spain,  128. 

Floyd,  Charles,  with  Lewis  and 
Clark,  dies  on  journey,  77. 

,  John,  begins  Oregon  agitation 

in  Congress,  129;  speech  on 
Oregon  bill,  130-131 ;  his  pre- 
dictions fulfilled,  262. 

Fonseca,  Gulf  of,  reached  from 
Panama,  4. 

Phoresis  of  the  N.  W.  See  Lumber- 
ing. 

"  Forty-niners,"  235. 

Fox  River,  44. 

France,  9,  15,  43-46;  attempt  to 
control  the  West,  63;  sells  Lou- 
isiana to  U.  S.,  68. 

Franchere,  Gabriel,  clerk  of  P.  F. 
Co.,  "Narrative,"  102-103,  114; 
goes  to  Canada,  113. 

Franciscans,  founders  of  California 
missions,  17-18. 


3o8 


INDEX 


Fraser,  Simon,  British  explorer, 
descends  Fraser  River  to  the 
Pacific,  98. 

River,  Mackenzie  navigates, 

97- 

Fremont,  John  C,  first  "path- 
finding"  expedition,  176;  in 
California,  232,  233. 

Frost,  Rev.  J.  H.,  missionary,  171. 

Fuca,  Juan  de,  legend  of,  concern- 
ing strait,  25. 

Fur  trade,  of  Canada,  begun  by 
Chainplain,  43;  plan  of  French 
to  trade  across  the  continent, 
46;  British  H.  B.  Co.  organized, 
its  trade,  96-97  ;  N.  W.  Co.  suc- 
ceeds French  traders  of  Canada, 
97;  its  westward  operations,  97- 
98;  Mackenzie's  trading  project, 
98 ;  Northwesters  threaten  to  take 
possession  of  the  Columbia,  98. 
See  Columbia  River,  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  and  Northwest 
Company. 

,  of  the  N.  W.  Coast,  begun 

by  Cook's  men,  29 ;  British 
traders,  Hanna,  Meares,  etc.,  29- 
32;  occasions  the  Nootka  Sound 
controversy,  32-33;  Americans 
interested  in  N.  W.  Coast,  Led- 
yard's  trading  project,  35-36; 
Boston  merchants  send  ships 
to  the  N.  W.  Coast,  37-39.  See 
Columbia  River. 

,  of  the  United  States,  as  old 

as  the  American  colonies,  in- 
fluence of,  in  early  times,  95-96; 
government  trading  houses,  65; 
lack  of  organization  prior  to 
Lewis  and  Clark's  exploration, 
96;  effects  of  exploration  on,  100, 
138-139.  See  Astor,  Columbia 
River,  and  Missouri  River. 

Gallatin,  All)ert,  negotiates  treaty 
with  Great  Britain,  134-136, 159. 


Gama,  Vasco  da,  3. 

Genet,  P'rench  minister  to  U.  S., 
his  plans,  63. 

George,  Fort.     See  Astoria. 

Gillespie,  Lieutenant  A.,  with  Fre- 
mont in  California,  231. 

Golden  Hind.     See  Drake. 

Good  Hope,  Cape  of,  13. 

Government,  first  American,  on  the 
Pacific.  See  Oregon  provisional 
government. 

Grand  Ronde  valley,  entered  by 
Hunt,  107;  crossed  by  emi- 
grants, 194;  settlement  of  and 
conditions  in,  266-267. 

Gray's  Harbor,  discovered  by  Gray, 
38;  native  of,  reports  Tonquin 
disaster,  104. 

Gray,  Robert,  on  ship  Lady  Wash- 
ington,'^Ty  on  Co/uml)ia  to  China. 
and  to  Boston,  38;  discovers 
Columbia  River,  38-40. 

Gray,  William  H.,  with  Whitman, 
153;  goes  East  and  returns  with 
wife,  156;  helps  form  provisional 
government,  201. 

Great  Britain,  16;  sends  out  Cap- 
tain Cook  to  explore  N.  W. 
Coast,  24,  29;  Nootka  conven- 
tion, 32,  34,  48,  49,  53;  interest 
in  the  West,  64,  109,  11 1;  and 
the  Oregon  Question,  124-126, 
163,  164,  168,  175,  176,  177- 
178;  hopes  to  secure  northern 
part  of  Oregon,  211;  U.  S.  will- 
ing to  give  it  up,  213,  214,  215; 
concedes  49th  parallel  boundary, 
treaty,  216. 

Greeley,  Horace,  quoted,  206;  edi- 
torial on  Whitman,  220. 

Green  Bay,  44. 

Green  River  vallev,  106. 

Grenville  Point,  Heceta  takes  pos- 
session for  Spain  at,  20. 

Guerriere,  173. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  44. 


1 


INDEX 


309 


Hall,  Fort,  176;  emigration  of 
1843  at,  193-194- 

Hancock,  Samuel,  241,  242. 

Hanna,  James,  begins  N.  W.  Coast 
fur  trade,  29. 

Haro,  Spanish  sea  captain,  31. 

Haswell's  diary,  quoted,  37. 

Healy,  P.  J.,  owner  of  California 
manuscripts,  233. 

Hearne,  Samuel,  explorations  of, 
Coppermine   River,  23,  48. 

Heceta,  Spanish  navigator,  20;  dis- 
covers Columbia  River,  2i,  31, 

39. 

Helena,  mining  camp  at,  258. 

"  Henry-'l  hompson  Journals,  The," 
109,  114. 

Hines,  Rev.  Gustavus,  missionary, 
171;  address  at  Champoeg,  202. 

Holman,  F.  V.,  169. 

Holland,  15. 

Hood  River  valley,  illustrates  ef- 
fects of  irrigation,  292. 

Howard,  British  sea  captain,  15. 

Howse  Pass,  discovered  by  D. 
Thompson,   108. 

Hudson  Bay,  16;  port  at,  19;  York 
Factory,  116. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company.  See  Fur 
trade  of  Canada  and  Columbia 
River  fur  trade.  Description  of 
the  trade  at  Hudson  Bay,  97; 
conflict  with  N.  W.  Co.,  Red 
River  Colony  of  Lord  Selkirk, 
116;  consolidation  with  N.  W. 
Co.,  116. 

Hudson,  Henry,  perishes  in  the 
search  for  Northwest  Passage, 
22. 

Humboldt  River,  route  of  Central 
Pacific  Railway,  273. 

Hunt,  Wilson  Price,  partner  of 
P.  F.  Co.,  105;  gathers  party  for 
Columbia,  105;  the  overland 
journey,  106-107;  sails  from 
Astoria    in    ship    Beaver,    ill; 


trade  at  Sitka,  112;  goes  to 
Hawaii,  112;  to  Columbia,  atti- 
tude on  affairs  there,  112-113; 
leaves  Columbia  River,  113. 

Idaho,  mining  in,  258,  259;  agri- 
culture, 269;  plan  to  unite  north- 
eastern Washington  with  north- 
ern Idaho,  etc.,  282;  admitted 
into  the  Union,  284;  cities  of, 
284;  population  in  1870,  279; 
present  extraordinary  growth  of, 
due  in  part  to  irrigation,  292. 

Illinois,  Oregon  emigration  move- 
ment in,  170,  183. 

Independence,  town  in  Missouri, 
starting  point  of  emigration  par- 
ties going  to  Oregon,  California, 
Santa  Fe,  etc.,  183. 

Indian  affairs,  for  the  West,  Qark 
in  charge  of,  92. 

War,  Cayuse,  causes  of,  222- 

223;  the  Whitman  massacre, 
223;  captives  ransomed,  223- 
224;  the  Oregon  provisional 
government  proclaims  war,  224; 
preparations  and  military  opera- 
tions, 224-225;  effect  on  Con- 
gress, 225-227;  the  Rogue  River 
War,  causes  and  results,  248- 
249;  other  wars,  249-25 1;  effects 
on  emigration  to  Inland  Empire, 

255.  256. 

Indians,  California,  8,  13,  17,  18; 
Northwest,  19,  20.  See  Fur  trade, 
Missions,  and  Indian  War. 

Inland  Empire,  source  for  the  study 
of,  244;  discussed,  253-270;  its 
extent  atid  character,  253-254; 
agricultural  possibilities,  254- 
255;  effect  of  Indian  War  on 
settlement  of,  256;  discovery  of 
gold  in  and  its  effect,  257-258; 
"  tenderfeet  "  and  **  yondersid- 
ers,"  258;  pack  trains,  258-260; 
steamboats  on  upper  Columbia, 


3IO 


INDEX 


wagon  roads,  260-262;  compe- 
tition between  St.  Louis  and 
Portland  for  Montana  trade,  261- 
262;  agriculture  in  Walla  Walla 
valley,  264-266;  in  Grand  Ronde 
valley,  266,  269;  railroad  agita- 
tion, 270, 

Iowa,  emigration  from,  to  Oregon, 
183. 

Ipkigenia,  British  ship,  seized  at 
Nootka  by  Spaniards,  37. 

Irrigation,  employed  by  mission- 
aries at  interior  missions,  156; 
development  of,  in  Pacific  N.  W., 
292-293. 

Irving,  Washington,  "Astoria"  re- 
ferred to,  106,  107,  114;  "Cap- 
tain Bonneville,"  142. 

Isaac  Todd,  N.  W.  Co.'s  ship,  ar- 
rives at  Fort  George,  115;  brings 
cattle  to  Columbia  River,  121. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  President,  inter- 
est in  Pacific  coast,  160;  sends 
Slacum  to  Oregon,  160-161. 

,  David,  fur  trader,  139,  140, 

141. 

,  John  R.,  settles  near  Puget 

Sound,  211. 

Jackson  Creek,  in  southern  Ore- 
gon, gold  found  on,  247. 

Jacksonville,  Oregon,  founded,  247. 

James  the  First,  instructions  to 
London  Co.  about  exploration 
toward  the  Pacific,  43. 

Jamestown,  15. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  two  sources  of 
interest  in  the  West,  49-51;  his 
letter  to  Steptoe,  51-52;  letter 
to  G.  R.  Clark,  52;  relations 
with  Ledyard,  53-56;  with  Mi- 
chaux,  56;  concerned  for  safety 
of  the  Mississippi,  63-64;  tries 
to  buy  New  Orleans  and  West 
Florida,  64;  connection  between 
defense  of  the  Mississippi  and 


Jefferson's  plan  to  extend  the 
Indian  trade,  64-66;  and  the 
proposal  to  send  an  exploring 
expedition  up  the  Missouri,  66; 
outline  of  the  message  of  Janu- 
ary 18,  1803,  which  provides  for 
a  government  expedition  "  to  the 
Western  Ocean,"  64-67;  Jeffer- 
son buys  Louisiana,  relation  of 
this  incident  to  the  proposed  ex- 
pedition, 68;  sends  Lewis  and 
Clark,  69-93. 

John,  Chief,  250. 

John  Day's  River,  mining  in,  257; 
packing  to,  259. 

Johnson,  Elvira,  missionary,  151. 

,   seaman,    settled   at   Cham- 

poeg,  172. 

Joliet,  French  trader  and  explorer, 
44. 

Jones,  T.  Ap.  C,  commodore,  takes 
Monterey,  232. 

Joint-Occupation,  Treaty  of,  127; 
definition  of,  127;  2d  Treaty  of, 
136. 

Journals  of  Spanish  priests  with 
Perez,  18;  Jefferson's  instruc- 
tions to  Lewis  concerning,  72; 
publication  of  Lewis  and  Clark's, 
93;  Thompson's,  108;  Henry- 
Thompson's,  109,  114;  Wyeth's, 
edited  by  F.  G.  Young,  145. 

Kamiah,  interior  mission,  156. 

Kamiakin,  Indian  chief,  250. 

Kamtchatka,  54. 

Kamloops,  fort  of  H.  B.  Co.  on 
Fraser  River,  119. 

Kansas  City,  183. 

Kansas  River,  traders  from,  seen 
by  Lewis  and  Clark,  76. 

Kearny,  General  S.  W.,  in  Cali- 
fornia, 233. 

Kelley,  Hall  J.,  begins  Oregon  agi- 
tation, 129;  influences  Wyelh, 
142,  147;   visits  Oregon,  162. 


INDEX 


311 


Kendrick,  Captain  John,  37. 

Kenton,  Simon,  180. 

Kentucky,    early     settlement     of, 

population  in  1800,  58. 
Klamath   Lake,   Fremont    returns 

from,  to  California,  232. 
Klickitat,  265. 
Kootenai,  fur-trading  station,  1 10; 

mining  region  of,  257,  259. 

La  Charette,  Boone's  home,  75, 106. 

Lady  Washington,  ship,  on  N.  W. 
Coast,  37. 

La  Grande,  town  in  Grand  Ronde 
valley,  266. 

Lane,  General  Joseph,  appointed 
governor  of  Oregon  Territory, 
sketch,  227-228;  235;  intro- 
duces Washington  Territory  Bill 
in  Congress,  245;  services  in 
Rogue  River  War,  249;  settles 
in  southern  Oregon,  246;  251. 

Langley,  fort  of  H.  B.  Co.  on 
Fraser  River,  119. 

Lapwai.     See  Missions. 

La  Salle,  explorer  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, 44. 

Ledyard,  John,  early  life,  33-34; 
with  Captain  Cook,  34;  back  to 
America,  seeks  support  for  trad- 
ing expedition  to  N.W.  Coast,  35- 
36;  publishes  account  of  Cook's 
expedition,  36;  in  France,  53- 
54;  meets  Jefferson,  55;  plans 
to  explore  North  America  from 
Nootka  Sound  eastward,  55; 
his  Siberian  journey,  55-56;  in 
Africa,  death,  56. 

Lee,  Rev.  Daniel,  missionary,  with 
Jason  Lee,  140. 

,  Rev.  Jason,  founds  Oregon 

mission,  148-149;  returns  to  the 
East,  165;  his  influence  on  Con- 
gress, 167;  raises  colonizing 
party  for  Oregon,  reaches  the 
Columbia  on  Lausanne,  171. 


Leschi,  Indian  chief,  250. 

Leslie,  Rev.  David,  missionary,  151. 

Lewis,  Captain  Meriwether,  early 
life,  69-70;  Jefferson's  private 
secretary,  70;  character,  70; 
chosen  to  lead  exploring  expedi- 
tion, 69;  return  journey  to  Wash- 
ington, 92;  governor  of  Missouri 
Territory,  mysterious  death,  92. 
See  Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedi- 
tion. 

and  Clark's  Expedition,  ori- 
gin of,  .57-68;  appointment  of 
leaders,  69-71 ;  instructions,  72- 
74;  preparations,  the  party,  74- 
75;  the  start,  75-76;  Indian 
council,  77;  at  Fort  Mandan, 
78-79;  from  Mandan  to  the 
Rockies,  79-82;  Shoshones,  Sa- 
cajawea,  82;  the  west  slope  of 
the  Rockies,  82-86;  on  the  Co- 
lumbia, 86-89;  reach  the  Pacific, 
89;  at  Fort  Clatsop,  89-90;  re- 
turn journey,  92;  sources  for  the 
study  of,  93. 

River,  discovered  and  named 

by  Clark,  85  ;  name  "  Snake 
River"  not  used  in  this  book, 
85. 

River  Desert,  107. 

Liberty,  Missouri  town,  outfitting 
place  for  trapping  parties,  153. 

Linn,  Dr.  Lewis  F,,  U.  S.  Senator 
from  Missouri,  active  in  behalf 
of  Oregon,  his  report  on,  164- 
165;  166;  168;  his  bill  passes 
Senate,  182;  popular  agitation 
to  secure  passage  through  the 
House,  183,  213-214. 

Livingston,  Robert  R.,  instructed 
to  buy  New  Orleans  and  West 
Florida,  64. 

Lolo  Trail,  followed  by  Lewis  and 
Clark,  85. 

Lovejoy,  A.  L.,  companion  of  Dr. 
Whitman,  219,  220. 


312 


INDEX 


Louisiana,  conditions  in  Lower,  63, 
64  ;  purchase  of,  68  ;  transfer  of 
Upper,  witnessed  by  Captain 
Lewis,  75. 

Louisville,  important  western  town, 

^37- 
Lumbering,  exceptional  advantages 
for,  in  Pacific  N.  W.,  289-290; 
earlier  development,  see  Manu- 
facturing. 

Mackenzie,  Sir  Alexander,  explores 
Mackenzie  River,  also  a  route  to 
Pacific,  97 ;  fur-trading  project 
of,  98,  99  ;   nearly  realized,  116. 

Mackinac,  Hunt  secures  men  from, 
105. 

Magellan,  Spanish  navigator  who 
first  rounded  South  America,  2. 

Malheur  River,  209,  250. 

May  Dacre,  Wyeth's  ship,  144, 
148-149. 

Mayflower  Compact,  203. 

Mammoth,  Jefferson's  efforts  to  get 
bones  of,  51. 

Mandan,  villages  visited  by  St. 
Louis  traders,  75  ;  reached  by 
Lewis  and  Clark,  78. 

,  Fort,  Lewis  and  Clark's  camp, 

winter  of  1 804-1 805,  78-79. 

Manufacturing  ships,  4  ;  first  built 
on  N.W.  Coast,  37,  38,  49  ;  ark, 
or  flatboat,  61  ;  Lewis  and  Clark 
build  canoes,  86 ;  ships  built  at 
Vancouver,  121  ;  on  Willamette, 
S/ar  of  Oregon,  172;  on  upper 
Columbia,  260 ;  importance  of 
shipbuilding  industry,  289  ;  lum- 
ber mills,  at  Vancouver,  121  ; 
opportunities  for,  in  Willamette 
valley,  179  ;  erection  of,  pro- 
moted by  gold  rush  to  California, 
240;  on  Puget  Sound,  begin- 
nings of,  242  ;  later  development 
of,  280  ;  in  Grand  Ronde  valley, 
269  ;   flour  mills,  at  Vancouver, 


121;  erected  by  missionaries 
on  upper  Columbia,  156  ;  TAe 
Mill  (Salem),  173;  in  Waila 
Walla  valley,  265  ;  special  de- 
velopment at  Spokane,  285 ; 
other  lines  of  manufacturing, 
289-290. 

Marquette,  Father,  French  priest 
and  explorer,  44,  46. 

Marshall,  J.  W.,  discovers  gold  in 
California,  134. 

Martinez,  Spanish  navigator,  seizes 
British  ships  at  Nootka  Sound, 
31-32. 

McCarver,  M.  M.,  204 ;  quoted, 
207. 

McLoughlin,  Dr.  John,  arrives  at 
Fort  George,  117  ;  builds  Fort 
Vancouver,  117;  management 
of  fur  trade,  117-123;  enter- 
tains Jedediah  Smith,  141, 
Wyeth,  145,  Dr.  Parker,  152, 
the  Whitman  party,  154;  equips 
men  for  farming,  150;  promotes 
temperance  society,  151  ;  sub- 
scribes to  the  Willamette  Cattle 
Co.,  162 ;  makes  loans  of  stock 
and  supplies  to  American  set- 
tlers, 174  ;  tries  to  prevent  them 
from  settling  north  of  the  Co- 
lumbia, 211  ;  accepts  the  pro- 
visional government,  212. 

M'Dougal,  D.,  P.  F.  Co.  partner, 
no. 

Meares,  Captain  John,  N.W.  Coast 
trader,  ship  seized  by  Spaniards, 

32,  39. 
Meek,  Joe,  first  sheriff  of  Oregon, 

202 ;   sent  to  Washington,  225, 

227  ;    appointed  U.  ^marshal, 

228,  235. 
,    Steph^nTl.  L.,   misguides 

emigration  of  1845,  209. 
Mendoza,  Viceroy  of  Mexico,  sends 

Alar^on,  Cabrillo,  and  Ferelo  to 

explore  Pacific  coast,  6,  7. 


INDEX 


313 


Mexico,  4,  5,  6,  9. 

Michaux,  Andre,  has  project  to 
explore  the  West,  failure,  56. 

Missions,  in  Lower  California,  17  ; 
in  California,  planting  of,  17- 
18 ;  French  project  for  on 
Pacitic,  46  ;•  in  middle  West, 
146-147  ;  the  Nez  Perces  dele- 
gation to  St.  Louis,  147-148. 

. ,  Methodist,  in  Oregon,  be- 
ginnings on  Willamette,  148- 
149  ;  influence*  on  Willamette 
settlers,  149-150 ;  progress  of, 
151  ;  reinforcements,  151,  165, 
1 71-172  ;  expansion  of  effort, 
171-172;     becomes    a    colony, 

173- 

,  Congregational  or  Presby- 
terian, Parker's  tour  into  the 
Oregon  country,  151,  153  ;  mis- 
sion sites  chosen,  152,  153;  the 
Whitman  party,  153  ;  journey  of, 
154;  begins  two  stations,  154- 
155;  expansion  of  work,  155, 
156  ;  social  conditions,  156-158  ; 
problems  of,  218,  219  ;  action 
of  American  Board,  see  Whit- 
man ;  decline  of,  1843  'o  1847, 
221,  222  ;  the  Whitman  mas- 
sacre, 222,  224 ;  break-up  of 
interior  missions,  224. 

,  Catholic,  in  Willamette  val- 
ley, 173;  pohtical  influence  of, 
199  ;   in  interior,  218,  219. 

Mississippi  River,  16  ;  explored 
by  French,  43-44;  geographi- 
cal effect  of,  45 ;  Missouri  branch, 
45-46  ;  West  dependent  on,  61, 
62  ;  early  commerce  of,  61,  62  ; 
opposition  of  Spain  on,  62,  63  ; 
Jefferson's  interest  in,  63-68. 
See  Lewis  and  Clark's  Expedi- 
dition. 

Missouri,  Oregon  emigrations  ren- 
dezvous in,  153,  183,  208. 

River,  see  Mississippi  ;  prom- 


\ 


ises  a  route  to  the  Pacific, 
45-46  ;  Carver's  plans,  47,  49  ; 
exploration  of,  see  Lewis  and 
Clark's  Expedition  ;  a  commer- 
cial route  to  the  Pacific,  130, 
262  ;  fur  trade  of,  96,  97,  100, 
1 38*  139,  141  ;  road  from,  to 
Walla  Walla,  261  ;  railroad 
route  to  Pacific,  272. 

M'Kenzie,  Donald,  fur  trader  with 
Astor  and  N.  W.  Co.,  no,  in, 
115,  116. 

Mofras,  Duflot  de,  visits  Orego 
172. 

Moluccas,  importance  of  spice 
trade  wilh,  3,  5. 

Monopoly.  See  Hudson  Bay  Co., 
123. 

Monroe,  James,  helps  secure  treaty 
with  France  in  1803,  64. 

Monterey,  harbor  discovered,  8 ; 
fortified  mission  at,  18 ;  base 
for  northern  explorations,  18-20, 

Montreal,  Astor  secures  men  from, 
105,  109. 

Morris,  Robert,  favors  Ledyard,  26. 

M 'Lavish,  J.  G.,  N.  W.  Co.  fur 
trader,  brings  war  news  to 
Columbia,  in  ;  secures  transfer 
of  Astoria  to  N.  W.  Co.,  112- 

113. 
Mullan,  Captain  John,  builds  Mul- 
lan  Road,  261. 

Napoleon,  secures  Louisiana  from 
Spain,  57  ;   sells  to  U.  S.,  68. 

Nebraska,  battleship  built  at 
Seattle,  289. 

Nelson  River,  route  of  fur  trade  to 
Hudson  Bay,  98,  99. 

Nesmith,  J.  W.,  with  1843  emigra- 
tion, 185;  204;  at  Northern 
Pacific  Railroad  celebration,  277. 

Netal  River,  now  Lewis  and  Clark's 
River,  site  of  Fort  Clatsop,  90. 

New  Archangel  (Sitka),  loi. 


314 


INDEX 


New  Orleans,  the  market  for  the 
trans- Alleghany  West,  6 1  ;  Jef- 
ferson tries  to  buy,  64. 

New  York,  Astor  seeks  to  center 
fur  and  China  trade  at,  loo-ioi. 

Nez  Perces  Indians,  send  delega- 
tion to  St.  Louis,  147-148;   151, 

154. 

Nicaragua  Lake,  discovered,  4. 

Nicolet,  Jean,  French  trader,  43. 

Nolan,  Philip,  Jefferson  writes  to 
about  wild  horses,  51. 

Nootka  convention,  treaty  between 
Spain  and  Britain,  32. 

— —  Sound,  discovered  by  Perez, 
19 ;  Cook  names,  25  ;  and  the 
Columbia,  28-42 ;  first  sale  of 
sea-otter  skins  in  Canton,  28 ; 
effects  of,  29 ;  early  fur  trade, 
30;  Nootka  Sound  the  center 
of,  30-31  ;  Russia  pushes  down 
the  coast,  31  ;  Spanish  rights 
threatened',  31  ;  Spain  fortifies 
Nootka  Sound,  32 ;  Spaniards 
seize  British  vessels  at  Nootka, 
32 ;  the  Nootka  Sound  con- 
troversy and  its  settlement,  32- 
33 ;  influence  upon  American 
interests  in  the  Pacific  N.  W.,  ^^. 

North  Dakota,  Fort  Mandan  in,  78. 

Northwest  America,  first  sea-going 
vessel  built  on  N.  W.  Coast,  37. 

Coast,  definition  of,  20  ;   and 

Alaska,  15-27. 

Company,  origin  and  growth 

of,  97  ;  occupation  of  the  coun- 
try west  of  the  Rockies,  97-98, 
108-109  ;  acquisition  of  Astoria 
as  a  result  of  the  War  of  181 2, 
111-113  ;  consolidation  with 
H.  B.  Co.,  1 1 5-1 16. 

Passage,  3,  16,  22. 

Ogden,  Peter  Skeen,  factor  of 
H.  B.  Co.,  1 75  ;  saves  Waiilatpu 
captives,  223,  224. 


Ohio,  population  in  1800,  58; 
Oregon  meetings  in,  183,  213- 
214. 

Statesman,  newspaper,  source 

of  information  on  Cinciimati 
Oregon  convention  of  1843,  214. 

Okanogan,  Fort,  founded  by  Astor 
party,  iii. 

Olympia,  beginnings  of,  212  ;  pros- 
perity after  the  gold  rush,  241, 
242  ;  territorial  government  be- 
gun at,  245  ;  population  in  1870, 
280. 

Onalaska,  or  Unalaska,  Ledyard 
explores,  34. 

Ontario,  warship  sent  to  Columbia, 
124,  126. 

Orbit,  brig  which  began  the  lum- 
ber trade  from  Puget  Sound  to 
California,  242. 

Oregon  Historical  vSociety,  publica- 
tions of,  145,  195,  208,  281. 

,  origin  of  name,  47,  128. 

provisional  government,  early 

political  conditions,  197  ;  first 
step  toward  self-government, 
198-199  ;  cause  of  failure,  199- 
200;  new  agitation,  the  "  wolf- 
meeting,"  200;  Champoeg  meet- 
ing,   201-202 ;     officers   chosen, 

»  202;  the  first  organic  law,  203; 
government  by  compact,  203 ; 
weakness  of  the  first  provisional 
government,  204-205;  saved  by 
the  great  emigration,  204-205; 
its  final  success,  206;  the  II.  B. 
Co.  accepts  its  authority,  211- 
212;  effect  on  Oregon  question, 
213;  undertakes  a  war  against 
the  Cayuse  Indians,  224 ;  termi- 
nates, 228. 

question,  situation  on  Colum- 
bia when  War  .of  18 12  came, 
108-1 13;  sale  of  Astoria  to  N.W. 
Co.,  113;  taken  by  Raccoon,  113; 
question  of  its  restoration  under 


INDEX 


315 


treaty  of  Ghent,  124;  British 
rights  first  asserted  in  181 7,  125; 
U.  S.  to  have  right  of  possession 
of  Columbia  till  question  of 
ownership  could  be  settled,  125- 
126  ;  Joint-Occupation  Treaty, 
126-127;  first  discussion  of 
boundary,  127-128;  lack  of 
national  interest  in  Oregon, 
Bryant's  "Thanatopsis,"  Kelley's 
pamphlets,  128-129;  in  Con- 
gress, 129;  Floyd's  resolution, 
report,  and  bill,  129;  second 
bill,  debate,  Ployd's  argument, 
1 29-1 3 1  ;  Bailies's  predictions, 
131-132;  Tracy's  "practical" 
views,  132  ;  defeat  of  bill,  133  ; 
Benton's  Senate  speech,  132 ; 
first  diplomatic  discussion  over 
Oregon,  134;  second  diplomatic 
discussion,  Gallatin,  135-136; 
reasons  for  failure,  136;  the 
question  dropped,  1827-1837, 
159;  Slacum  in  Oregon,  160-162; 
report,  163  ;  Oregon  discussion 
resumed  in  Congress,  Linn's  bill 
and  report,  164-165;  Jason  Lee 
in  the  East,  T.  J.  Farnham's  visit 
to  Oregon,  petitions  and  memo- 
rials, 165-168 ;  Cushing's  report, 
167;  Oregon  Provisional  Emi- 
gration Society,  168-170;  local 
emigrating  companies,  1 70; 
Lee's  colony  of  1840,  1 71-172  ; 
Oregon  in  1841,  ^72-175  ; 
White's  company  of  emigrants, 
1842,  175-176;  the  Ashburton 
Treaty,  176;  the  great  emigration 
of  1843!  177-195;  see  Emigra- 
tion,—  Establishment  of  provi- 
sional government  for  Oregon ; 
see  provisional  government.  — 
Effect  on  Oregon  question,  213; 
Oregon  convention  at  Cincinnati, 
213-214  ;  "  Fifty-four- forty," 
214-215  ;    Polk    President,    his 

i 


attitude,  215;  Britain  offers  com- 
promise, 216. 

State,  agitation  for  statehood, 

adoption  of  Constitution,  and 
admission  into  the  Union,  251- 
252. 

Steam  Navigation  Compapy 

opens  river  trade  with  Wallula, 
259;  extends  operations  on  upper 
Columbia,  260,  262;  becomes  the 
Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation 
Co.,  276, 

Territory,    President     Polk 

recommends  creation  of,  216, 
218,  227;  bills  for,  216,  218, 
227;  slavery  influence  in  Con- 
gress opposes,  217,  218,  227; 
passage,  227  ;  General  Lane, 
first  governor,  227;  government 
inaugurated,  228  ;  terminates, 
252. 

Trail,  238. 

Oregonian  and  Indian's  Advocate^ 
169. 

Oregonian,  The  Sunday,  of  Port- 
land, Oregon,  reprints  Lee  and 
Frost's  "  First  Ten  Years  of  Ore- 
gon," 149. 

Orient,  trade  with,  from  Pacific 
N.  W.,  295. 

Pacific  Fur  Company.     See  Astor 

«W  Columbia  River  Fur  Trade. 
Palouse,    wheat-raising  region   of 

Pacific  N.W.,  285. 
Panama      Canal,     affects     Pacific 

N.  W.,  294. 

,  Isthmus  of,  I,  235,  274. 

Parker,  Dr.  Samuel,  A.  B.  C  F.  M., 

missionary,      explores     Oregon, 

151-153- 

Peace  River,  ascended  by  Mac- 
kenzie, 97-99. 

Pedlar,  ship  used  by  Hunt,  113. 

Pen  d'Oreille,  Lake,  N.  W.  Co. 
fort  at,  109;   navigation  to,  260. 


3i6 


INDEX 


Perez,  Juan,  explores  N.  \V.  Coast, 
18-20,  31. 

Perkins,  Rev.  H.  K.  W.,  mission- 
ary, 151. 

Philippines,  discovered  by  Magel- 
lan, conquest  and  commerce 
with,  9. 

Pioneer  and  Democrat,  Puget 
Sound  newspaper,  used  as 
source,  244,  265. 

Pitman,  Miss,  151, 

Platte  River,  Oregon  Trail  along, 
141,  185,  238. 

Pocatello,  city  in  Idaho,  popula- 
tion of,  284. 

Polk,  James  K.,  elected  President, 
213;  settles  Oregon  question, 
214. 

Population,  of  middle  West  about 
1800,  58;  in  1820,  137;  of  Ore- 
gon, in  1841,  172;  in  1846,  210; 
of  California,  in  1850  and  i860, 
237;  of  the  N.  W.,  in  1850  and 
i860,  237;  of  Oregon  and 
Washington,  in  i860,  252;  of 
the  Inland  Empire,  266,  269; 
distribution  of,  in  N,  W.,  about 
1870,  278-280;  later  growth, 
283-285;  prospects  for  increase 
due  to  irrigation,  manufacturing, 
etc.,  292-294. 

Portland,  a  new  village  at  time  of 
California  gold  rush,  240 ;  em- 
porium of  trade  to  Inland  Em- 
pire, 262;  metropolis  of  the 
N.  W.,  1870,  279;  progress  of 
population,  283. 

Portneuf  River,  trail  along,  238. 

PortTownsend,  lumber  mill  at,  242. 

Portugal,  3;  flag  of,  used  by 
British  N.  W.  traders,  29,  32. 

Powder  River,  mining  on,  257, 
259;   agriculture  on,  269. 

Prevost,  J.  B.,  receives  Columbia 
country  from  British  at  Astoria, 
126. 


Prickly  Pear  River,  259. 

Princess  Royal,  British  ship  seized 
by  Spaniards  at  Nootka,  32. 

Paget  Sound,  Fort  Nesqually  and 
Methodist  Episcopal  mission  on, 
171;  first  settlement  on,  210- 
212;  Californiaminers from, 235; 
commercial  progress  of,  236, 
241 ;  lumbering  on,  242;  dis- 
covery of  coal,  242-243 ;  in- 
creased population,  242,  244; 
demands  separate  territory,  244, 
245;  project  of  railroad  to,  271; 
population  on,  279;  lumbering, 
280,281;  social  conditions,  im- 
portation of  women  from  the 
East,  281;  growth  of  cities  on, 
283,  284. 

Agricultural  Company,  211. 

Herald,  used  as  source,  244. 

"  Quarterly,"  of  Oregon  Historical 
Society,  195,  208,  281. 

Raccoon,  British  warship,  takes 
Astoria,   113. 

Railways,  61 ;  inland  country  waits 
for,  270;  Walla  Walla  and  Co- 
lumbia River  line,  270 ;  age  of, 
in  Pacific  N.  W\,  271;  early 
Pacific  railway  projects,  Asa 
Whitney,  271;  George  Wilkes, 
271-272;  influence  of  Civil  War 
on,  272 ;  first  Pacific  railway 
completed  to  San  Francisco  Bay, 
273;  effect  of,  273-274;  insuffi- 
cient for  N.  W.,  274;  connect- 
ing lines  planned,  274,  275; 
Oregon-California  Railway,  275; 
Henry  Villard,  275-277;  Ore- 
gon Railway  and  Navigation  Co., 
276 ;  Northern  Pacific  com- 
pleted, 277;  later  railway  build- 
ing, 278;  effect  of,  278-285. 

Resolution  and  Discovery,  Cook's 
ships,  23. 


INDEX 


317 


River  of  the  West,  early  ideas  con- 
cerning, 43-44;  relation  to  Mis- 
souri, 45,  46;  Carver's  report 
and  map,  46-49;  Jefferson  and, 
53.     See  Columbia. 

"  Rocky  Mountain  Exploration," 
by  Reuben  Gold  Thvv^aites, 
quoted,  72. 

Rocky  Mountains,  Verendrys  dis- 
covers, 46 :  crossed  by  Lewis 
and  Clark,  82;  difference  in 
character  of  east  and  west  slopes, 
82,  84,  92 ;  Mackenzie  crosses 
by  Peace  River,  97;  David 
Thompson  crosses  by  Howse 
Pass,  108;  eastern  boundary  of 
Oregon,  127;  a  supposed  inac- 
cessible barrier  to  westward 
emigration,  132;  explored  by 
Long,  133;  American  fur  traders 
enter,  139;  Jedediah  Smith 
crosses  to  California  and  to  Ore- 
gon, 140-141;  wagons  taken 
into,  1830,  141;  discovery  of 
South  Pass,  141 ;  first  wagons  to 
cross,  142;  road  opened  to  Fort 
Hall,  144;  completed  to  Co- 
lumbia, 1843,  ^93- 

Rogers,  Rev.  C,  missionary,  156. 

Rogue  River  valley  receives  set- 
tlers, 247. 

War.     See  Indian  War. 

Roseburg,  Oregon  and  California 
Railway  completed  to,  275. 

Ross,  Alexander,  cL^rk  of  P.  F. 
Co.,  at  Okanogan,  the  "  Fur 
Hunters,"  quoted,  no;    114. 

Rush,  Richard,  negotiates  with 
Britain  on  Oregon,  134,  135. 

Russia,  explorations  of,  in  Alaska, 
16,  20,  22,  25;  government  of, 
arrests  Ledyard,  54;  treaty  with 
U.  S.,  128;  Astor's  trade  with 
Russians  in  Alaska,  loi,  1 12; 
H.  B.  Co.'s  trade  with,  121. 


Sacajawea,  guide  to  Lewis  and 
Clark,  75,  82. 

Sacramento  valley,  231. 

Salem,  origin  of,  172,  173;  consti- 
tutional convention  at,  251. 

Salmon  River,  Captain  Clark  de- 
scends, 85;   mining  on,  257,  259. 

San  Carlos,  mission  of,  18. 

Sandwich  Islands,  Cook  discovers, 
24;  account  of,  relations  with 
Oregon  and  California,  167. 

San  Diego  Harbor,  discovered,  7; 
named,  14;  fortified,  mission  at, 
17,  18. 

San  Francisco,  becomes  the  com- 
mercial emporium  of  Pacific 
coast,  236;   population,  237. 

San  Jacinto  (Mt.  Edgecumbe),  21, 

25- 

San  Miguel,  Gulf  of,  where  Balboa 
reaches  the  Pacific,  i ;  Bay  of, 
later  called  San  Diego,  7;  Island 
of,  8. 

Santa  Fe,  possible  route  to  Pacific 
by  way  of,  53. 

Santa  Marguerita,  a  discovery  made 
by  Perez,  19. 

Santiago,  exploring  ship  of  Perez 
and  Heceta,  18,  20. 

Saskatchewan  River,  97. 

Scribner's  Magazine  cited,  90. 

Sea-otter,  importance  of,  28,  29, 
andff. 

Seattle,  beginnings  of,  242;  ship- 
load of  women  arrive  at,  281; 
her  marvelous  growth  in  twenty 
years,  284;  battleship  Nebraska 
built  at,  289;  importance  of 
Alaska  trade,  284. 

Selkirk,  Lord,  founds  Red  River 
colony,  116. 

Serra,  Father  Junipero,  founds  Cali- 
fornia missions,  17. 

Shepard,  missionary,  151. 

She  Whaps  River  and  Lake,  fur 
trade  upon,  1 10. 


3i8 


INDEX 


Shively,  J.  M.,  Oregon  emigration 
agent  at  Washington,  182. 

Shoshone  Indians,  aid  Lewis  and 
Clark,  82. 

Siberia,  Ledyard's  journey  in,  55. 

Sierras,  gold  found  in,  234. 

Simmons,  M.  T.,  pioneer  settler  on 
Puget  Sound,  211,  212. 

Simpson,  Sir  George,  governor  of 
H.  B.  Co.,  117;  visits  Oregon, 
172. 

Siskiyou  Mountains,  crossed  by 
Oregon  men  going  to  California, 
234;   railway  across,  275. 

Sitka,  101. 

Slacum,  W.  A.,  sent  to  Pacific  coast, 
160;  visits  Willamette  valley, 
1 60-1 61;  promotes  cattle  com- 
pany, 161-162;  returns  to  U.  S. 
and  reports,  163. 

Smith,  A.  B.,  missionary,  156. 

,  Jedediah,  119;  visits  Cali- 
fornia, 140;  crosses  to  Oregon, 
141;  attacked  by  Umpqua  In- 
dians, 141;  at  Vancouver,  141 ; 
takes  wagons  to  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, 141. 

Snake  River.     See  Lewis  River. 

Society  Islands,  Wyeth's  ship 
wrecked  at,  143. 

Sonora,  Cuadra's  ship,  20,  21. 

South  Pass.    See  Rocky  Mountains. 

Sea,  discovered   by   Balboa, 

I,  2;   explored,  5,  44,  45. 

Bowles,  Captain,  in  charge  of  ship 
Beaver,  112. 

Spain,  her  power  on  the  Pacific,  9, 
10;  decline  of,  15,  16;  plans  of, 
16,  17;  executes  plans,  17-21 ; 
gives  up  exclusive  claim  to  N.  W. 
Coast,  32;  treaty  with  U.  S.,  128. 

Spalding,  Rev.  H.  H.,  joins  Whit- 
man, 153;  wife  an  invalid  on 
journey,  154;  they  settle  at 
Lapwai  mission,  154-155;  his 
account  of  the  mission,  221. 


Spectator,  The,  New  York  news- 
paper used  as  source,  220. 

Spokane,  beginnings  of,  and  ac- 
count of  development,  285. 

House,    P.    F.   Co.    trading 

station,  built  by  Clark,  iii. 

River,  no. 

Star  of  Oregon,  a  vessel  built  on 
Willamette,  in  1 841,  172. 

St.  Elias,  named,  25. 

Steptoe,  Jefferson  writes  letter  to, 

Stevens,  General  Isaac  I.,  appointed 
governor  of  Washington  Terri- 
tory, 245-246;  sketch  of,  245- 
246;  opinion  of  inland  country, 
255;  explores  Northern  Pacific 
Railroad  route,  opinion  of,  272; 
his  treaties  with  Indian  tribes, 
255-256;  "  Life  of,"  by  Hazard 
Stevens,  246. 

St.  James,  H.  B.  Co.  fort,  119. 

St.  Louis,  Captain  Lewis  at,  75; 
.important  western  trade  center, 
138,  139- 

Stock-raising,  beginnings  of  in 
N.  W.,  121;  advantages  of  Wil- 
lamette valley  for,  160;  Willa- 
mette Cattle  Co.,  161-163; 
favored  land  for,  178;  in  Inland 
Empire,  254,  279;  dairying, 
292;  in  southern  Oregon,  246, 
280. 

"  Strait,"  the  search  for  a,  2,  3. 

Strong  and  Schafer,  "  Government 
of  American  People  "  cited,  203. 

Stuart,  David,  P.  F.  Co.  partner, 
builds  Fort  Okanogan,  109-110. 

,   Robert,   P.   F.  Co.  partner, 

sent  East  from  Astoria,  wanders 
in  Rocky  Mountains,  1 10. 

Sublette,  William  L.,  Rocky  Moun- 
tain fur  trader,  139, 140,  141, 143. 

Sutter,  Captain  John  A.,  settles  in 
California,  230,  233,  234.. 

Sutter's  Fort,  230-231. 


INDEX 


319 


Tacoma,  beginnings,  population  in 
1870,  281;    rapid  growth,  283- 
284. 
Taos,  220. 

Tecumseh,  Indian  chief,  250. 
Tennessee,    population    in    1800, 

58. 
"  Thanatopsis,"     popularizes     the 

name  "Oregon,"  128. 
Thompson,  David,  geographer  of 
N.  W.  Co.,  appears  at  Astoria, 
108;  discovers  Howse  Pass,  108; 
plants  forts  on  upper  Columbia, 
109;    opposes   P.  F.  Co.,  109; 
journal    quoted    by   Dr.   Coues, 
108. 
Thorn,  Captain  Jonathan,  in  charge 
of  Tonquin,  102;    at  mouth  of 
Columbia,    103;     at   Clayoquot, 
trouble  with  Indians,  death,  104, 
105. 
Three    Forks,    of    the    Missouri, 

Lewis  and  Clark  at,  8i. 
Thwaites,  Dr.  Reuben  Gold,  quoted, 
72;  publishes  plan  of  Fort  Clat- 
sop, 90;  edits  Lewis  and  Clark's 
journals,  93;    John  B.  Wyeth's 
book,  145, 
Tonguin,  Astor's  first  ship  to  the 
Columbia,  102;    loss  of  men  at 
mouth  of  river,   103;    northern 
cruise,  destruction  of,  104-105. 
Tracy,  Rev.  Frederick  P.,   editor 
of  Oregonian  and  Indian^ s  Ad- 
vocate, 169. 

,    of  New  York,  speech   on 

Floyd's  bill,  132-133. 
Trappers,  American,  sent  to  Rocky 
Mountains  by  Ashley,  139;  come 
in  contact  with  H.  B.  Co.  trap- 
pers, 139-140;  party  of  settlers 
in  Willamette  valley,  172. 
Tribtme,  the    New   York,    cited, 

206,  220. 
Tsimakane,   mission   on    Spokane 
River,  156.     See  Missions. 


Tualatin,  County,  in  Oregon,  210; 

Academy,  241. 
Turner,    Professor    Frederick    J., 

"  Significance      of      Frontier," 

quoted,  95,  96. 
Tyler,  President  John,  quoted  on 

Oregon  question,  178. 

UUoa,  Spanish  explorer,  sent  out 

by  Cortez,  5,  6,  7,  31. 
Umatilla  Landing,  259. 
Umpqua,  Fort,  119. 
valley,   settlement    of,   246- 

247;   railroad  to,  275. 
Union  Pacific,  276.     See  Railways. 

Vancouver,  Captain  George,  42. 

,    Fort.     See    Hudson's   Bay 

Company. 

Verendrye,  discovers  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, 46. 

Villard,  Henry,  interested  in  Ore- 
gon railways,  275;  organizes 
Oregon  Railway  and  Navigation 
Co.  to  build  line  up  Columbia 
valley,  276;  secures  control  of 
Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  276; 
completes  Northern  Pacific  Rail- 
road, 277;   "Memoirs  of,"  277. 

Vizcaino,  Spanish  explorer,  in  Cali- 
fornia, 14,  15,  17. 

Waiilatpu.     See  Missions. 

Waldo,  Daniel,  204. 

Walker,  C.  M.,  with  Jason  Lee, 
149. 

,  Rev.  Elkanah,  missionary  at 

Tsimakane,  156. 

,   Joseph,    leads    portion    of 

Bonneville's  men  to  California, 
142. 

Walla  Walla  River,  Fort  Walla 
Walla  at  mouth  of,  115  ;  mission 
site  selected  on,  152-153  ;  mis- 
sion on,  154. 

valley,   settlement    of,    259, 

260,   261  ;     development,    262, 


320 


INDEX 


265-266  ;  military  post  in,  259  ; 
commercial  activity  of  Walla 
Walla  town,  259—260 ;  impor- 
tance of,  280. 

Waller,  Rev.  A.  F.,  missionary  at 
Oregon  City  station,  171. 

Wallula,  270. 

War  of  181 2,  effect  on  Oregon,  see 
Oregon  question. 

Washington  Statesman,  source 
used,  244. 

•  Territory,  included  in  early 

Oregon,  see  Oregon  Territory, 
Columbia  River,  atid  provisional 
government  ;  early  settlement, 
see  Puget  Sound  ;  agitation  for 
separate  territory,  244 ;  first 
newspaper,  244 ;  first  territorial 
meeting,  244  ;  second  meeting, 
memorial  to  Congress,  245  ; 
Lane's  bill  for  creation  of  the 
Territory  of  Columbia,  245 ; 
amended  and  passed,  245  ;  Gen- 
eral Stevens  governor,  245  ; 
gold  in,  see  Mining  and  In- 
land Empire  ;  becomes  a  state, 
284. 

,   State    of,    admitted,    284  ; 

cities  of,  283,  284,  285  ;  effects 
of  commerce  and  of  irrigation, 
289,  292. 

Wayne,  Anthony,  71. 

Webster,  Daniel,  concludes  Ash- 
burton  treaty,  176. 

Western  Engineer,  steamboat 
used  by  Long's  exploring  party, 
138. 

White,  Dr.  Elijah,  comes  to  Ore- 
gon, 151,  173;  appointed  Indian 
agent,  takes  emigrants  to  Ore- 
gon, 175-176,  200. 

Whitman,  Dr.  Marcus,  with  Dr. 
Parker,  152  ;  brings  mission- 
aries to  Oregon,  153-154  ; 
founds  interior  missions,  154- 
'55  >   guiles  emigration  of  1843, 


'93-194;  reasons  for  his  famous 
winter  ride,  218-219;  difficulties 
and  hardships  on  journey,  219, 
220 ;  missions  decline,  221-222  ; 
the  Whitman  massacre,  223 ; 
Whitman's  opinion  of  inland 
country,  254. 

Whitney,  Asa,  his  railroad  project, 
271. 

Wilderness  Road,  58,  1 80. 

Wilkes,  Lieutenant  Charles,  in 
Oregon,  172-174. 

,  George,  plans  national  rail- 
road to  Pacific,  271-272,  275. 

Willamette  Cattle  Company,  161- 
163. 

,  Indians  of,  a  sickly,  degraded 

race,  151,  173. 

Mission.     See  Missions. 

valley.     See  Emigration  and 

Stock-raising. 

Wilson,  Dr.  J.  R.,  on  Oregon 
question,  168. 

,  W.  H.,  missionary,  151. 

Wind  River  Mountains,  crossed  by 
Hunt's  party,  106,  141. 

Wisconsin  Historical  Society, 
library   of,   used,    214. 

Wood,  Tallmadge  B.,  quoted, 
207. 

"  World  Encompassed,  The," 
Fletcher's  account  of  Drake's 
voyage,  10. 

Wyeth,  Nathaniel  J.,  interested  in 
Oregon,  142 ;  trading  project, 
143  ;  first  journey  to  Columbia, 
143  ;  return  to  Boston,  second 
journey,  144  ;  plans  ruined,  145  ; 
influence  on  settlement  of  Ore- 
gon, 145  ;  his  journals  and  let- 
ters, 145. 

Yakima  valley,  settlement  of,  265  ; 

agriculture  in,  269  ;   an  irrigated 

section,  292. 
Yamhill  County,  Oregon,  210. 


INDEX 


321 


Yellowstone  River,  described  by 
Lewis  and  Clark,  80. 

Yoncalla,  founded  and  named  by 
Jesse  Applegate,  246. 

York,  Captain  Clark's  negro  serv- 
ant, 75. 

York  Factory,  116. 


Young,  Ewing,  organizes  cattle 
company,  161-162;  death,  es- 
tate, 198-199. 

,  Professor  F.  G.,  edits  Wyeth's 

journals,  145  ;  Quarterly,  195. 

Young's  Bay,  90. 


V 


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